Dates announced for two weeks of lecturer strikes at UoN

The strikes are planned to take place across the last two weeks of February and the first two weeks of March.

Nottingham joins an array of other leading UK universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, Newcastle and King’s College London in a 14-day strike over new pension proposals that could see a average lecturer earning approximately £10,000 less per year in retirement then initially expected.

The UK education sector’s primary retirement fund, the Universities Superannuation Scheme's (USS), is demanding an increase in finance from university employers and staff in order to address a supposed £7.5 billion funding gap, according to a spokesperson for the University of Nottingham.

Thursday 22nd February has been declared as the first day of the 14-day protest that could see disruption to lecturers and seminars for students for up to a total of four weeks.

The dates are as follows:

• 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 UCU statement said: "During these times, staff members will not be answering emails, taking lectures or seminars or marking any work".

The University and College Union's (UCU) is the largest further and higher education union in the world with approx. 120,000 members. The higher education committee has scheduled a meeting to plan an industrial action strategy in case talks with USS fail to produce a solution.

About 184,000 university staff – mainly at pre-1992 universities – contribute towards a USS pension.