King’s College London staff set to strike for 18 days this term

Staff and lecturers at King’s College London are set to go on strike for 18 days this term.

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced that 70,000 members of staff at 150 different UK universities will be striking for 18 days in February and March, as staff remain in a battle for better pay and better pensions, among other things.

The exact dates of these strikes are yet to be confirmed, but the UCU has said that these will be announced next week.

KCL staff have already been involved in three days of strike action, back in the November of this academic year.

The UCU believe they are “closer today than they have ever been to winning this dispute” but maintain that the “clock is ticking” for university bosses to avoid further widespread disruption this year.

The union are campaigning for a meaningful pay rise to ease the cost of living crisis, the three per cent rise earlier this year follows what the UCU have called “over a decade of below-inflation pay awards,” with inflation currently over ten per cent. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association gave an offer between four and five per cent yesterday, but the UCU formally rejected as it was “not enough.”

They are also campaigning to stop the use of insecure contracts and for the universities to revoke cuts to pensions and restore benefits.

Jo Grady, the UCU general secretary, said: “Today our union came together to back an unprecedented programme of escalating strike action. The clock is now ticking for the sector to produce a deal or be hit with widespread disruption throughout spring.

“University staff dedicate their lives to education and they want to get back to work, but that will only happen if university vice-chancellors use the vast wealth of the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant insecure employment practices and devastating pension cuts. The choice is theirs.”

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