The University and Colleges Union have announced their largest strikes yet, with an expected 70,000 university staff across the country due to strike later this month.
UCU members voted in favour of industrial action in October over disputes concerning pay, working conditions, and pension cuts. Staff at every UK university are set to strike on 24, 25, and 30 November, possibly impacting over 2 million students.
The union has warned action will escalate to a marking and assessment boycott if employers do not act fast enough to make improved offers and avoid the disruption.
UCU General Secretary, Jo Grady, said: “Campuses across the UK are about to experience strike action on a scale never seen before.
“Vice-chancellors are choosing to pay themselves hundreds of thousands of pounds whilst forcing our members onto low paid and insecure contracts that leave some using foodbanks. They choose to hold billions in surpluses whilst slashing staff pensions.”
The UCU reports the university sector made £41bn last year, and Vice-Chancellors collectively earned an estimated £45m.
Demands include a ‘meaningful’ pay rise in line with the cost of living crisis and the discontinuation of insecure contracts. Employees saw a pay rise of 3% earlier this year, and the UCU report one third of academic staff are on temporary contracts.
Additionally, those on strike will demand that cuts made earlier this year be revoked, and benefits restored.
Action Short of a Strike will begin on 23 November, where academic staff will work only to the conditions agreed in their contract, refuse to make up for time lost to strike action, and refuse to cover for colleagues.
The Sheffield UCU branch undertook industrial action in winter 2021, followed by a second round of strikes at the start of this year, caused by the same issues and marked by a number of campus occupations by students standing in solidarity.
Further marking and assessment boycotts in summer 2022 threatened to delay the release of results and graduations for students who had recently completed their studies. UCU members met with the University of Sheffield to negotiate after it announced 100% of their pay would be withheld until October.
Sheffield International College will likewise see strikes on 17 and 18, and 28 – 30 November over low pay.
