Solidarity with the UCU Strikers!

The anticipated strikes of staff from UK universities have begun: they will last from today (November 25th 2019) until December 4th. The cause of the dispute is twofold: (1) the long-running saga of the Universities pension scheme (about which there were strikes in 2018); and (2) over pay, equality, workloads and the ever-increasing casualisation of lecturing and other work.

Among the institutions to have voted for strike action are my previous employers in the UK Cardiff, Sussex and Nottingham. It remains to be seen what the impact of these strikes will be, but they could affect a very large number of students. Nobody likes going on strike but the UK higher education system is a very poor state right now, and many of my former colleagues feel that they have no alternative. It will be tough out there on the picket lines in the cold weather, and losing eight days’ pay before Christmas is no fun either, but that’s what it means to go on strike.

I’m no longer involved in the UK university system so can’t do much directly to support those taking industrial action but my own union, the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has expressed solidarity with UCU members so I thought the least I could do is wear my IFUT badge for the duration of the strike. It’s not as if Ireland is immune from casualisation and workload issues.

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This entry was posted on November 25, 2019 at 8:09 am and is filed under Education with tags Irish Federation of University Teachers, strikes, University and College Union. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Solidarity with the UCU Strikers!”

telescoper Says:
November 25, 2019 at 10:51 am

Pay is deducted by the employer for days lost due to strike action.

Reply
- telescoper Says:
  November 25, 2019 at 12:17 pm
  
  Strike pay only covers a fraction of the pay lost and is normally only given to the neediest. I didn’t get anything at all for the strike days lost in 2018, but then I wasn’t a UCU member at the time.
  
  This is what the UCU website says about strike pay:
  
  …The union has agreed to provide strike pay as follows: members earning £30,000 or more will be able to claim up to £50 per day from the third day onwards; members earning below £30,000 will be able to claim up to £75 per day from the second day onwards.
  
  The maximum currently claimable by any one member is £500. Priority will be given to those on insecure contracts, low earnings or with special circumstances. For more details on the strike fund check here.
  
  Most strikers will lose a lot more than £500 as a consequence of 8 days action.
  
  Reply
George Jones Says:
November 25, 2019 at 2:06 pm

I have been on strike for two-and-a-half weeks (full university shutdown). Each week, as long I spend at least twenty hours on the the picket line, I get paid $616 (non-taxable) from a national university strike fund.

Reply
- telescoper Says:
  November 25, 2019 at 2:07 pm
  
  That is presumably in Canada, not the UK.
  
  Reply
  - George Jones Says:
    November 25, 2019 at 2:19 pm
    
    Yes, see
    https://ckpgtoday.ca/2019/11/24/university-to-consider-extending-semester-if-deal-not-met-by-dec-3rd/
    
    Note that there is a very significant typo at the start of the article. “The University of British Columbia” (a large university) should read “The University of Northern British Columbia” (a small university).

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