BREAKING: UoM lecturers to pause strikes as ‘significant progress’ is made

Teaching staff at the University of Manchester are set to resume lectures as of next week.

The University and College Union (UCU) announced this evening that strikes across the country would be put on pause for two weeks after making breakthroughs in their campaign against university employers.

Though they haven’t made a public statement, UoM’s branch of the UCU has confirmed with the Manchester Tab that they are indeed putting strikes on pause in line with the national dates.

Strikes scheduled on the following days are, therefore, cancelled:

Tuesday 21st February

Wednesday 22nd February

Thursday 23rd February

Monday 27th February

Tuesday 28th February

Wednesday 1st March

Thursday 2nd March

Confirming strikes scheduled after these dates will still be going ahead, the union stressed the importance of keeping the pressure on employers and continuing their campaign for better teaching conditions.

In a press release they stated: “Negotiations at Acas with Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) are on the basis that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

“This sits alongside our separate talks with Universities UK (UUK) on USS pensions. Against this backdrop we cannot spell out exact details.”

Yet, the group have mentioned a few areas in which they are making progress. These include the setting of time limits for negotiations on tackling casual contracts, levelling pay gaps and reducing workloads. Also, the group claim to have made progress on rates of pay for the lowest on the pay scale, something they mention will benefit everyone.

Strikes on March 16th, March 17th, March 20th, March 21st, and March 22nd are still set to take place.

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