Biggest ever university strike begins in fight over pay, pensions & conditions. Over 2.5 Million students affected

Biggest ever university strike begins in fight over pay, pensions & conditions. Picket lines set to be biggest in history of UK higher education. 1,865,000 undergraduate students and 685,000 postgraduate students studying at the universities facing strike action

Over 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK begin three days of strike action tomorrow (Thursday) over pay, working conditions and pensions. The strike is the biggest in the history of higher education and the University and College Union (UCU) is predicting historic turnout on its picket lines,

Staff will be picketing the entrances of every university each day of the action. The full strike dates are:

• Thursday 24 November
• Friday 25 November
• Wednesday 30 November

Over 2.5 Million Students Affected by the Strike action

The strikes come after UCU members overwhelmingly voted ‘yes’ to industrial action last month in two historic national ballots over attacks on pay and working conditions as well as pension cuts. The results are the first ever successful nationally aggregated ballots in the education sector since the Tories introduced anti-trade union laws in 2016. Despite the results, vice-chancellors have not made any improved offers.

There are 1,865,000 undergraduate students and 685,000 postgraduate students studying at the universities facing strike action

The National Union of Students (NUS) has backed the strike action, which could see over 2.5m students impacted.

How did the UCU members vote?

In the Great Britain pay and working condition ballot, the yes vote for strike action was 81.1% and the turnout was 57.8%.  In the Great Britain pension ballot, the yes vote for strike action was 84.9% and the turnout was 60.2%.

UCU balloted Northern Ireland separately, where turnout thresholds do not apply. In the Northern Ireland pay and working conditions ballot, the yes vote for strike action was 79%. In the Northern Ireland pension ballot, the yes vote for strike action was 81.4%. In both Northern Ireland ballots over 50% of members voted.

UCU also balloted its members over whether to take industrial action short of strike action.

In the Great Britain pay and working conditions ballot the yes vote to action short of strike was 88.8%

In the Great Britain pension ballot the yes vote to action short of strike was 90.1%.

In the Northern Ireland pay and working conditions ballot the yes vote for action short of strike was 89.9%.

In the Northern Ireland pension ballot the yes vote for action short of strike was 90.6%.

The full list of action short of strike UCU members are taking is:

• Working to contract (meaning staff only fulfil the duties explicitly expressed in your contract)
• Not undertaking voluntary activities
• Not covering for absent colleagues
• Refusing to reschedule classes missed due to industrial action
• Removing materials for classes that would have taken place on strike days from online learning platforms

Northern Ireland UCU members began action short of strike on Friday 18 November. UCU members in Great Britain began theirs on Wednesday 23 November.

Cost-of-living crisis as well as action to end the use of insecure contracts

In the pay and working conditions dispute, the union’s demands include a meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis as well as action to end the use of insecure contracts and deal with dangerously high workloads. Employers imposed a pay rise worth just 3% this year following over a decade of below inflation pay awards. On average university staff do two days additional work unpaid per week, whilst a third of academic staff are on some form of temporary contract.

In the pension dispute, UCU is demanding employers revoke the cuts and restore benefits. The package of cuts made earlier this year will see the average member lose 35% from their guaranteed future retirement income. For those at the beginning of their careers the losses are in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.                                                                                        

The UK university sector generated record income of £41.1bn last year with the 150 vice-chancellors at the institutions being balloted earnt an estimated £45million in 2020-21. UCU said the sector can more than afford to meet staff demands.

UCU Analysis – HE sector generated £41Bn in 2020/21 and had £3.4Bn cash in the bank. 3% increase in salary equates to just £600 million in staff costs.

UCU analysis revealed that the higher education sector generated record income of over £41bn in 2020/21 and finished the year with £3.4bn spare cash in the bank. Universities are planning to increase capital spending by £4.6bn (36%) this year. However, employers’ 3% increase amounts to merely an additional £600 million in staff costs.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said:

‘University staff are taking the biggest strike action in the history of higher education. They have had enough of falling pay, pension cuts and gig-economy working conditions – all whilst vice-chancellors enjoy lottery win salaries and live it up in their grace and favour mansions.

‘Staff are burnt out, but they are fighting back and they will bring the whole sector to a standstill. Vice-chancellors only have themselves to blame. Their woeful leadership has led to the biggest vote for strike action ever in our sector.

‘Students are standing with staff because they know this can’t go on. And they know that a sector which generates tens of billions of pounds each year from tuition fees can afford to treat its staff fairly.

‘Further disruption can be avoided if the concerns of staff are addressed with urgency. But the overpaid vice-chancellors killing our sector should be under no illusion: 70,000 dedicated university workers are ready to take even bigger action in the New Year.’

National Union of Students Vice President Higher Education Chloe Field said:

‘Students stand in solidarity with university staff going on strike. We have always been clear that staff working conditions are students’ learning conditions, and for more than a decade both have come under attack from a sector that puts profits above education.

‘Staff work hard to deliver a world-class experience for students, but more and more are struggling under the pressures of increased workloads, falling pay, cuts to their pensions and insecure work. Universities and employers should agree to UCU’s demands.

‘We exist in the same system and our struggles are inextricably linked. Only by coming together and showing solidarity with each other can we achieve the real and lasting change we want for everyone who works and studies in this country.’

Sector Response

University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Jo Grady said:

‘Today’s picket lines are huge. 70,000 university staff have turned out like never before, defying bullying tactics from management to show they will no longer accept falling pay, pension cuts, brutal workloads and gig-economy working conditions. If vice-chancellors doubted the determination of university staff to save our sector then today has been a rude awakening for them.

‘We have been overwhelmed by the support of thousands of students who have joined us on the picket lines. They recognise that vice-chancellors are wrecking the sector for staff and students alike and are determined to stand with us and fix it. 

‘Our members deserve a proper pay rise and the money is there to deliver it. Vice-chancellors now need to urgently address the concerns of staff otherwise our 70,000 members will escalate this dispute into next year’