Cambridge University and College Union votes in favour of staff strikes

Cambridge University and College Union (UCU) has tonight (04/11) voted in favour of striking this term due to disputes over pension cuts.

71% of the Cambridge UCU voted in favour of strikes over pension cuts, a vote of more than 50% was required to secure the strikes.

The vote also required a 50% voter participation from the members from the Cambridge UCU branch: there was a 51.7% turnout. 86.8% of members also voted that they were prepared to take action short of a strike.

The dates for the strike are yet to be decided, but the aim for the unions is to strike before the end of the year, likely disrupting education for students later in this term.

Cambridge UCU is one of 37 universities that have voted to strike tonight. The vote over pensions only included 65 universities, and 165 of the UK’s universities are expected to vote  on further strikes in response to pay, with results being discussed on Tuesday (09/11).

The decision to strike follows the Universities UK (UUK) vote to “cut pensions for USS members by an estimated 35% for the average member.”

The strikes this year will be the fourth consecutive year that the UCU has decided to strike; over pensions in 2018, as well as pensions and the ‘four fights’ in 2019 and 2020.

The ‘four fights’, yet to be voted on, are “a £2.5k pay increase; an end to race and gender pay injustice; a framework to eliminate the use of precarious contracts, such as zero-hours employment; and meaningful action to tackle unmanageable workloads.”

The Cambridge Student Union (SU) voted to support the possible strikes last week (25/10), as well as committing to “provide educational and welfare support to students.”

This news story will be updated as the situation develops. 

Photo Credit: Author’s Own