University of York staff set to strike for 18 days this term
Over 70,000 staff at 150 universities will be striking
Staff at the University of York will be striking for 18 days between February and March.
The University and College Union (UCU) has announced that 70,000 staff at 150 UK universities will be striking for 18 days in February and March, as staff are in an ongoing campaign for better pay and pensions, among other things.
The UCU has not yet said the exact dates uni staff will be striking and has said this will be confirmed next week.
šØBREAKINGšØ
EVERY SINGLE UK UNIVERSITY WILL BE SHUT DOWN WITH 18 DAYS OF STRIKE ACTION ACROSS FEBRUARY AND MARCH
RT if you support our members. #ucuRISING pic.twitter.com/eLygR0LAeO
— UCU (@ucu) January 12, 2023
York has already seen three days of strike action this academic year and A York Tab survey found that 69 per cent of York students supported the strikes.
The union says āthe clock is tickingā for university bosses to avoid widespread disruption this year. They are campaigning for a significant pay rise to ease the cost of living crisis, the ending of use of insecure contracts, and are demanding unis revoke cuts to pensions and restore benefits.
Universities gave staff a pay rise of three per cent this year (with inflation currently over 10 per cent), after what the UCU calls āover a decade of below-inflation pay awardsā.
UCU general secretary Jo GradyĀ said: āToday our union came together to back an unprecedented programme of escalating strike action. The clock is now ticking for the sector to produce a deal or be hit with widespread disruption.
āUniversity staff dedicate their lives to education and they want to get back to work, but that will only happen if university vice-chancellors use the vast wealth of the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant insecure employment practices and devastating pension cuts. The choice is theirs.ā
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