More Than 70,000 Staff At 150 UK Universities To Strike For 18 Days

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced that over 70,000 employees from 150 UK universities will be going on strike for 18 days between February and March. This move comes as the UCU is engaged in disputes with university bosses over various issues, including pay, working conditions and pensions. The exact dates of the industrial action will be confirmed next week.

The UCU has also said that it will re-ballot all 150 universities to renew its mandate, which will allow industrial action to be taken well into 2023. This could include a marking and assessment boycott from April unless the disputes are resolved.

The UCU is requesting a substantial pay increase to handle the cost of living crisis, in addition to measures to put an end to the use of unreliable or “insecure” contracts. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents university employers, has put forward a pay offer between 4% and 5%, but the UCU has declined it, claiming it is insufficient.

Jo Grady, the General Secretary of UCU, stated that “today our union has come together to endorse an extraordinary escalation of strike action. The sector now has a limited time to take action and to resolve the conflict, or else they will face expansive disruption throughout the spring. Faculty and staff devote their lives to teaching, and they want to return to their work. However, this will happen only if university vice-chancellors use the considerable wealth of the sector to confront well over a decade of decreasing pay, rampant job insecurity, and significant pension cuts. The decision is theirs.”