Put it in your diary: Here are the dates for when Brookes staff will be striking

The University and College Union (UCU) has just announced the dates staff at Oxford Brookes University will be striking this term.

In the previously announced industrial action, it was confirmed lecturers of 150 universities across the UK would take part and go on strike, Brookes included. Here are the dates of the strikes:

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 1st and Thursday 2nd March

Week six – Thursday 16th and Friday 17th March

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

If the strikes go ahead as planned, the UCU say it will be the biggest university industrial action in history. Across the UK, over 70,000 staff are expected to go on strike due to continued disputes over pay, pensions, and work conditions, among other things.

The first date of the strike in February coincides with the TUC’s “protect the right to strike” day, a protest against the Conservative government’s plans to introduce strict anti-strike measures through parliament. Five unions, including UCU, NEU, ASLEF, PCS and RMT, have already confirmed they will be joining this day of action.

The UCU’s general secretary Jo Grady said: “The university sector in the UK has over 40 billion pounds 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 rampant use of insecure contracts is a system which fails everyone. ”

“A resolution can be reaches, 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.”

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