Manchester Uni staff to go on strike next Wednesday as part of 18 days of action

Staff from 150 universities, including the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Salford and the Royal Northern College of Music are due to strike for eighteen days across February and March.

Following a meeting on January 12th, the University and College Union’s (UCU) Higher Education Committee announced their plans for the latest strike action. 70,000 university staff will be joining the action that is in response to national disputes regarding pay, pensions and working conditions.

It has been confirmed that the first of these strike days will take place on Wednesday (February 1st). The dates for the next 17 days of strike action have just been announced – you can see them here.

BREAKING: 70,000 UCU members to strike on 1 February

Notice for 17 more days of strike action, scheduled to take place during February and March, will be served next week

We are proud to be taking action on 1 February with our fellow unions#ucuRISINGhttps://t.co/AvDq6skuru

— UCU (@ucu) January 17, 2023

The strike on February 1st will coincide with the Trades Union Congress’s ‘protect the right to strike’ day. Unions including NEU, PCS, ASLEF and RMT will also be participating in the strike against the government’s plan to introduce strict anti-strike measures.

Staff at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Royal Northern College of Music will be striking over pay and working conditions. Staff at the University of Manchester and University of Salford will be striking over pay, working conditions and pensions.

Members of the UCU are demanding a pay rise sufficient to deal with the cost of the living crisis and an end to insecure contracts.

In regards to the pension dispute, UCU is demanding employers revoke the package of cuts made last year, which will see the average member lose 35 per cent from their guaranteed future retirement income.

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The UCU claimed that in a meeting earlier this week the Universities and Colleges Employers Association declined to improve its pay offer of 4-5 per cent. The UCU said that this was “not enough“.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Whilst the cost-of-living crisis rages, university vice-chancellors are dragging their feet and refusing to use the vast wealth in the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant casualisation and massive pension cuts.

“On 1 February, 70,000 university staff will walk out alongside fellow trade unions and hundreds of thousands of other workers to demand their fair share.

“UCU remains committed to reaching a negotiated settlement, but if university employers don’t get serious and fast, more strike action will follow in February and March.”

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