Two Strikes, No-one’s Out
Students left completely unaffected as second day of strikes hit Notts
It was business as usual today at UoN as libraries stayed open, lectures went ahead and strike action was largely ignored by students for the second time this term.
Lectures are being disrupted and libraries closing up and down the country today after 4 unions called strike action over a pay dispute, which some argue leaves academic and support staff significantly out of pocket. A proposed pay increase of 1% has been met with fierce opposition from academics and support staff alike with one union boss calling it “the straw that broke the camel’s back”
However, our green and pleasant campus has seemingly avoided political activism altogether. Hallward remains stiflingly hot and the vast majority of lectures went ahead as planned. Politics professor Sue Pryce remarked “I thought staff were meant to be on strike, but there are less students here than academics” .
When The Tab tried to approach the picketers for comment, they were nowhere to be seen. Posters were seen at both main entrances of Uni Park but with no accompanying protesters, it was less than impressive.
Many students were completely unaware of strike action even taking place, and those that did were completely unbothered by it. Classics fresher Jen said “No one told me anything was cancelled, and none of my lecturers seemed to care”.
However there is a vocal minority that support the lecturers. Bart Williams, the General Sec of Labour Students, said: “The government continues to erode higher education in the UK by forcing students to fork out 9k per year, Nottingham is one of only five universities nationally to still pay some staff the minimum wage and over 500 are paid under a living wage of £7.65 per hour.”