Staff begin 10 day walkout at Lancaster University

University leaders have ‘failed staff and students’, the University and College Union (UCU) said today, Monday, as up to 10 days of strike action began at universities across the UK over cuts to pensions and deteriorating pay & working conditions.
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University and College Union (UCU) members at Lancaster University have joined the UK-wide strike. Picket lines will be held outside main university entrances on each of the 10 strike days.

In total, staff at 44 universities began strike action today after university employers refused to withdraw cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) or accept UCU’s compromise proposals which would have seen staff and employers pay slightly more to protect benefits and resolve the pension dispute.

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Last week the pension scheme trustee USS, which runs the scheme, confirmed UCU’s proposals are viable and implementable. UUK’s proposals, which will see 35 per cent cut from the guaranteed retirement income of members, are set to be formalised on February 22.

University and College Union (UCU) members at Lancaster University have joined the UK-wide strike.University and College Union (UCU) members at Lancaster University have joined the UK-wide strike.
University and College Union (UCU) members at Lancaster University have joined the UK-wide strike.

Next Monday (February 21) strike action over pay and working conditions will also start with 24 further universities joining the action. This will bring the overall total to 68 universities.

This dispute is over 20 per cent real terms pay cut over the past 12 years, unmanageable workloads, pay inequality and the use of exploitative and insecure contracts, which are rife across the sector. Altogether, more than 50,000 staff are expected to walkout with well over a million students set to be impacted.

The full strike dates, with numbers of institutions involved, are:

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*Week 1 (USS pension dispute only, 44 institutions): 5 days; Monday 14 to Friday 18 February

*Week 2 (both the pension and the pay & working conditions dispute, 68 institutions): 2 days; Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 February

*Week 3 (pay & working conditions dispute only, 63 institutions): 3 days; Monday 28 February, Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 March

The final day of strike action in week 3 has been called to coincide with the student strike on Wednesday March 2, organised by the National Union of Students (NUS). The NUS is supporting UCU’s industrial action and is calling for better working conditions, pay and pensions for staff.

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Staff are also engaged in action short of a strike (ASOS) which involves working strictly to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action, or undertaking any voluntary activities.

To resolve the pension dispute UCU is demanding employers revoke the cuts to staff pensions and formally accept the union’s compromise proposals. To resolve the pay & working conditions dispute UCU is demanding a £2.5k pay increase for all staff, as well as action to tackle unmanageable workloads, pay inequality and the use of insecure and exploitative contracts.

In December 2021, staff at 58 universities took three days of strike action. Following a successful reballot over Christmas, staff at 10 more universities join this wave of strikes.

The union says universities can more than afford to meet the demands of staff. University finance figures, from 2019/20, show total income across the sector was £41.9bn with reserves of £46.8bn.

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UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "The action that begins today and will eventually hit 68 universities is down to vice chancellors who have failed staff and students. They have pushed through brutal pension cuts and done nothing to address falling pay, pay inequality, the rampant use of insecure contracts and unmanageable workloads.

"Throughout these disputes, our union has offered simple solutions that would avert industrial action and benefit the sector in the long-term, but time and again employers have chosen to continue pushing staff to breaking point, all whilst the sector continues to bring in tens of billions of pounds each year.

"To avoid this period of industrial action all vice chancellors had to do was accept UCU’s viable pension proposals and take action over worsening pay & working conditions. That they didn’t is an abject failure of their leadership.

"Students are standing by our members because they know that staff working conditions are their learning conditions.

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"And they know that this sector, which is awash with money, can afford to treat its staff with dignity. As 10 days of action begins today vice chancellors need to urgently get around the table and help UCU resolve these disputes."

A spokesman for Lancaster UCU said: "Lancaster University staff are being forced to go on strike again to protect our pension, and to fight for fair wages, pay equality, secure jobs, and manageable workloads. We will be striking for 10 days: from 14-18 February and 21-22 February, and then 28 February-2 March.

"This dispute is entirely of the employers making. We have been on strike thrice now in three years, because the employers keep coming back to attack our hard-earned pension. This is especially frustrating after staff worked flat-out during the pandemic to keep universities up and running.

"The warm words from university management about their commitment to student’s education and wellbeing ring hollow, as the employers could have easily prevented this round of strike action by meaningfully negotiating with us.

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"Instead, they have chosen to prioritise profits over staff and students. We would much rather be teaching and doing our normal work, and we seriously regret having to continue this dispute, because we are concerned about the negative effect this strike may have on students. But the facts of the matter are that our pensions are being unnecessarily and radically cut by 35 per cent, threatening our ability to retire.

"Pay has fallen by 20 per cent, after twelve years of below-inflation pay offers; 1/3 of academic staff are on insecure contracts; the gender pay gap sits at 15 per cent and the latest figures show that only 27 per cent of professors are women and one per cent are black; and staff are experiencing a crisis of work-related stress with >50% showing probable signs of depression.

"Once the current period of strikes is over we will continue taking “Action Short of a Strike’”, which means that all of the extra, unpaid, after-hours work we usually do for the university will stop.

"It also means that unless university management agrees to negotiate a fair deal, a second round of strike will be announced after the vacation, and we will boycott assessments and marking.

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"UCU members hugely appreciate the support we are receiving from students and the wider public. This dispute is not just about pensions. It is part of a bigger fight for a higher education system in which students are NOT left in debt and their teachers are NOT left impoverished.

"Employers can prevent this disruption, if they choose to stop their attacks on our pension and work with UCU for a resolution of the dispute instead of stubbornly refusing to negotiate.”

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