Strikeout: Here are the dates for the 18 days of strikes at UEA this semester

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The University and College Union (UCU) has just announced all the dates that lecturers will be striking this semester.

70,000 staff nationwide are expected to strike due to disputes over pay, pensions, working conditions, as well as other inequalities they are facing.

The UEA is among 150 universities across the country that are taking part in the industrial action, staff and lecturers will be going on strike for a collective 18 days before Easter. The dates of the strikes are as follows:

• Week one – Wednesday 1st February

• Week two – Thursday 9th and Friday 10th February

• Week three – Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th February

•Week four – Tuesday 21st, Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd February

• Week five – Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th February and Wednesday 1s and Thursday 2nd March

• Week six – Thursday 16th and Friday 17th March

• Week seven – Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd March

The UCU has said this will be the biggest university industrial action that it has ever seen.

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The Trades Union Congress (TUC) are coordinating a “protest the right to strike” day, and this year it is being held on the first industrial action in February.

This protest will be against the Conservative government’s plans to introduce a strict anti-strike measures throughout parliament. Five unions, including UCU, NEU (National Education Union), ASLEF (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen), PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union and RMT (The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) have already confirmed they will be joining in on this day of action.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “The university sector in the UK has over £40bn sitting in reserves, but instead of using that vast wealth to deliver a cost-of-living pay rise and reverse devastating pension cuts, university vice-chancellors would rather force staff to take strike action and see campuses shut down.

“There is a clear route out of these disputes, but at present vice-chancellors lack the political will to take it. They are failing staff who want to get back to work, and students who want to get on with their studies.

“Students understand that staff working conditions are their learning conditions and we are proud to have their support in these disputes. A system that relies on low pay and the rampant use of insecure contracts is a system which fails everyone.

“A resolution can be reached, but that is in the gift of university vice-chancellors who need to urgently reassess their priorities and deliver a deal that benefits staff and students. From February, our union will begin reballoting its members to allow action to continue through the rest of the academic year, should they continue to drag their feet.”