Staff To Strike AGAIN

Fresh from the staff strike on 31st October, unions have announced they will plan to strike again on 3rd December. They want to pressure the Uni boss to donate strikers’ wages to the poorest students and to use his influence to help resolve the nationwide pay row.

Serial socialist and executive UCU member, George Disney boosting morale at the last strike

The Universities and College Union (UCU), which represents teaching staff, plans to strike over the nationwide pay row and are furious that docked strikers’ pay will not be used to help the poorest of students.

UCU are calling for the Vice Chancellor to put all strikers’ pay in the student hardship fund to help those Southampton students with financial difficulties. UCU are also disappointed vice-chancellor Don Nutbeam is refusing to use his influence, as a board member with the employers’ representatives UCEA, to try to bring about a swift resolution to the dispute.

Uni boss Don meeting the strikers

Union members are angry at a 1% pay offer, which has seen their pay fall in real-terms by 13% since 2008. The squeeze on staff pay comes at a time when pay and benefits for university leaders increased, on average, by more than £5,000 in 2011-12, with the average pay and pensions package for vice-chancellors hitting almost £250,000.

Eric Silverman, president of the UCU Southampton branch, said:

Staff at Southampton do not want to be taking strike action. They want to see a swift resolution to this dispute and no further disruption to students’ studies. We are disappointed that the university is not donating the money it saves by docking the pay of those who strike to the student hardship fund, as other universities are doing.

The employers need to come back to the negotiating table with something less insulting than a 13% real-terms pay cut over the past five years. We would urge our vice-chancellor, Don Nutbeam, to use his considerable influence at a national level to help progress things along.

The strike on 31st October saw some disruption on Highfield and Avenue campuses and unions are prepared to repeat that day on the 3rd December.