Oxford Dons Set For Halloween Strike

Major unions name October 31st as day for national walkout


Strike action by lecturers is planned for October 31st with Unite and Unison pledging to join the walkout.

The national vote of University and College Union (UCU) members was held last week with lecturers waiting until today to announce the day of the strike.

UCU said in an email sent out to Oxford members that it would be striking to protest pay and conditions as Oxford dons “have suffered four consecutive years of pay cuts and seen their pay drop by 13 per cent in real terms”.

An overwhelming majority of those polled support some sort of action

This is just part of a greater movement of strike action with the UCU now backed by Unite and Unison who have pledged to join the strike.

Mike McCartney, Unite’s National Officer for Education, said: “[Lecturers] have been left with no option but to fight for what’s fair.”

He commended the “excellent work by UCU” in getting support for the strike, hoping that the fact that “this result has come from the biggest national Universities Union [would lead to employers] coming back to the negotiating table.”

UCU is the largest union for academics in the UK

When contacted for comment, UCU’s Head of Higher Education said: “The ball is now firmly in the employers’ court and we urge them to agree to meet us for urgent talks to resolve the dispute.”