University staff set to strike for 18 days between February and March

More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK will strike for 18 days between February and March 2023. UCU has announced that the exact dates will be confirmed next week.

The continuing strikes are due to disputes over pay, working conditions and attacks on pensions.

The decision was taken by the union’s higher education committee (HEC) which met today. HEC has also agreed to call a marking and assessment boycott in April which will hit summer graduations unless the disputes are settled.

General secretary Jo Grady said: “The clock is now ticking for the sector to produce a deal or be hit with widespread disruption throughout spring.”

The video explores the reasons for the strikes: “We need more from our employer, we need to move them and this means that we need to call more action.”

The union is demanding a meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis as well as action to end the use of insecure contracts. Employers imposed a pay rise worth just 3% this year following over a decade of below-inflation pay awards.

The UCU has claimed its average member will lose more than one third of their future retirement income under a “package of cuts” being planned by employers.

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