‘Tuition should reflect time lost’: How Liverpool students feel about the strikes

Earlier this month, the University and College Union (UCU) declared that more strikes would take place this semester. This includes the 14th-18th of February, 21st and 22nd of February, and 28th February-2nd of March.

The website asks “employers and university leaders to work with us, end the strikes, and avoid widespread disruption for students, staff, their families, and the wider community.”

74 Universities are striking, including the University of Liverpool.

We asked Liverpool students how they feel about the upcoming strike action, and here is what some of them had to say:

3rd-year student Tristan Burns said it’s “Not fair to take it out on students who have been affected the most over COVID.”

Another student, Alex Flores said she is “Super annoyed, [I] wish tuition would reflect the time lost from staff absences.”

However, not all students are disputing the strikes. Elliot, a second-year politics student, said “I’m all for the strikes; it is selfish to only think about how it affects your studies and not the wider picture for your lecturers.”

The Liverpool Guild wrote an open letter to Janet Beer, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, to support UCUs proposals.

You can find out how you can support the strikes through the UoL Student-Staff Solidarity Instagram page.

The University of Liverpool has commented that the “industrial action is in relation to national disputes over pay and pensions. As this is a collective UK-wide action the University is reliant on national negotiations to try to resolve the disputes.”

On supporting students’ learning, they also said “After almost two years of disruption we understand the concern that this news may bring. The scale of disruption is not yet clear, particularly given that only a minority academic, professional and managerial staff are members of UCU and not all of them support this action.”

The Tab Liverpool has contacted the Liverpool UCU for a comment.