The dates for all 18 days of strike action at Coventry University have been announced

Coventry University students will have just nine days of teaching next month as the UCU has announced the upcoming 18 days of strike action taking place over the next two months.

Lecturers will be striking for 11 days in February and a further seven days in March over long-running disputes over pay, working conditions and pension cuts.

The Coventry University strike dates for this term 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, Tuesday 28th February and Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd March

Week Six: No strike action this week

Week Seven: Thursday 16th and Friday 17th March

Week Eight: Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd March

If the strikes go ahead, it will be the largest industrial action ever undertaken by higher education staff. UCU members are fighting for employers to revoke cuts and reinstate benefits they lost. The union argued, its average member has lost 35 per cent from their guaranteed future retirement income.

In light of the cost-of-living crisis, the union wants a “substantial improvement” on the current four to five per cent pay increase they are being offered by the University and Colleges Employers Association.

The UCU will also reballot its members next week. They are looking to win a mandate from their 70,000 members to take further action beyond March.

UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, said: “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.

“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.”

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