By Gavin Mackintosh-
University staff across the UK has voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in two national ballots over pay, working conditions and pensions. About 81.1% of members who took part in the ballot, across 147 universities, voted for strike action.
In the separate pensions ballot, 84.9% of members who took part, across 67 universities, voted for strike action.
The pensions dispute is about a valuation of a pension scheme called the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), used by academic staff. The UCU says the valuation is flawed and could lower members’ guaranteed retirement income by 35%.
A UUK spokesperson, speaking on behalf of USS employers, said contributions to USS pensions were already “at the very limit of affordability”.
More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities could now strike, after turnout among members of the University and College Union (UCU) exceeded the 50% voting threshold in both ballots and more than eight in 10 of those who voted said yes to strike action.
University lecturers, librarians and admin staff across the UK will strike over pay and pensions, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced.
The UCU said it was a “stunning” victory and called on vice-chancellors to urgently get round the negotiating table and improve their offers if they want to avoid widespread disruption on campuses across the country, either this year or early next.
A total of 70,000 UCU members at 150 universities were asked to vote in two separate ballots – one on pay and working conditions, and another on pensions.
University employers say a pay rise would put jobs at risk in what they say are “very difficult” financial times.
Students – some of whom have supported previous strike action by university staff – could face lectures being cancelled or rearranged.
Universities UK (UUK), an organisation representing 140 institutions, said universities would try to reduce the impact of any strikes on students and other staff members.
The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which represents university employers across the UK, proposed a 3% pay increase for staff this academic year, with 9% for those on the lowest pay grades.
UCU members are demanding a pay rise to take the rising cost of living into account – much like unions in other sectors which have pushed for strike action in recent months.
Inflation is close to 10%, the highest level for 40 years. That means workers’ living costs are rising faster than their wages, leaving them worse off.In the pay-and-working-conditions dispute, the UCU wants staff to receive a 12% pay rise, or Retail Price Index plus 2%. It also wants to address “dangerously high workloads” and scrap zero-hours contracts.
UCEA chief executive Raj Jethwa said the rates were “disappointing”, adding that there must be a “realistic assessment of what is possible” in “very difficult” financial circumstances.
“[Higher education] institutions want to do more for their valuable staff, but any increase in pay puts jobs at risk,” he said.
He said UCEA was willing to work with UCU, “but attempts to try and take more industrial action may simply hurt some students and staff for no realistic outcome”.
This is the first time a ballot by any education union has passed the legal threshold of 50% turnout across the country – enabling it to call a national strike – rather than in individual universities, which would have allowed only staff in those institutions to strike.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the “stunning” results showed university workers were “ready and willing to bring the entire sector to a standstill if serious negotiations don’t start very soon”.
In an interview with BBC News after the strike action was announced, Dr Grady said some members on zero-hours contracts have told the union they have had to live in tents, sleep on library floors, or go to food banks as they “cannot make ends meet” with their low pay.
“That is the dirty secret of higher education,” she added.
Asked about potential disruption a strike could have on students’ degrees, she said: “We are fighting for a better education system, and students would benefit from that too.”
Strike dates will be decided by the UCU soon, and it is understood action could start before Christmas.
Fifth Strike
This will be the fifth year of strike action at the University of Cambridge, with the series of industrial disputes beginning in February 2018 over pension cuts. The dates of upcoming strike action have not been announced.
Strikes last year saw three weeks of disruption, with much centrally organised teaching cancelled. Supervisions and other college teaching was unaffected, however.
Picket lines were erected around Cambridge, including at the Downing and Sidgwick sites, to discourage students from using their faculties and attending lectures.
The UCU is the first education union to secure a national strike mandate since tightening of trade union laws in 2016.
In both ballots over 80% of those polled voted to strike. Critically, the UCU met the 50% turnout threshold nationally, meaning this ‘yes’ vote would enable action across the entire sector.
Cambridge could now see strike action once again, along with 150 universities across the country. The scale of industrial action is set to be ‘unprecedented’ for the UK’s higher education sector.
The University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) had offered staff a 3% pay rise package. However, the UCU argued that with the retail price index showing inflation at 12.3%, this offer amounted to a real-terms pay cut.
The ballot comes amidst the cost-of living crisis, with people across the country facing rising energy prices, increasing rent burdens, and projections of a historic fall in real incomes.
The industrial action also aims to tackle casualisation in the sector. Long been an object of the UCU’s ire, the union blames it for economic insecurity, higher workloads and greater incidence of mental health issues.
The UCU’s research suggests that around 39% of academic staff at Cambridge are on fixed-term contracts – higher than the national average. The UCU is demanding a pay uplift of 2% over Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation, a framework for eliminating insecure work practices, and action to reduce workloads.
President of UCU Cambridge, Michael Abberton, told Varsity: “We are delighted that our first national campaign for an aggregated ballot has been won so decisively and in truly record-breaking style. These are truly historic times for Cambridge UCU, as we are on the verge of signing our first recognition agreement with the university.”
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Today history has been made by our members in universities, who in huge numbers have delivered an unprecedented mandate for strike action.”