Exclusive: The exact plans for the four weeks of staff strikes at UEA

As previously reported, UEA will be among the 61 universities nationwide participating in escalating strike action against proposed changes to pensions. This news came after lecturers voted in favour of industrial action in a national ballot taken by the University and Colleges Union (UCU) on Friday 19th January.

The strike action will take place across a four-week period throughout February and March, beginging during UEA's ‘Do Something Different Week’ :

Week one – Thursday 22 and Friday 23 February (two days)

Week two – Monday 26, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 February (three days)

Week three – Monday 5, Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 March (four days)

Week four – Monday 12, Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14, Thursday 15 and Friday 16 March (five days)

The SU has come out in support of the lectuers.

UEA’s branch of UCU have claimed that they do not expect events scheduled during ‘Do Something Different Week’ to be affected by the walkouts. A spokesperson for the university stated that the focus of the university throughout the strike action is “very clearly on protecting our students’ education experience and ensuring that they feel supported during this time; while we recognise people’s right to withdraw their labour we will put contingency measures in place to support students in their studies.”

The strike is occurring due to contentious proposed alterations to members’ of the UCUs pension scheme. Such changes entail a shift from the current defined benefit scheme, whereby employees are guaranteed a specified monthly payment upon retirement, to that of a defined contribution scheme. In a defined pension scheme, income upon retirement is subject to variables such as interest rates and tax dynamics, meaning pensions will become become largely dependent on how much employees pay in and how the fund’s investments perform.

It is still unclear how lectures and seminars will be impacted.

Many staff at UEA have been paying 8% of their income into pensions throughout their careers. Upon the implementation of proposed changes however, there would be no guarantee that such payments will be received in retirement.

Sally Hunt, the general secretary of UCU (University and College Union) said that “strike action on this scale has not been seen before on UK campuses”.