Universities

New university strikes from 21 March

After ten days of strikes across two disputes, ending 2 March, the University and College Union (UCU) leadership has called further strikes in the weeks beginning 21 and 28 March, with half the institutions out in each week. Action Short of a Strike continues in the 68 institutions involved in the disputes, one of which centres on massive cuts to future pensions, and the other on “Four Fights” around pay, workload, casualisation and equality. Management are still refusing to negotiate in the Four Fights dispute, and the threatened cuts to pensions were passed on the casting vote of the...

New protests follow SOAS occupation

From Wednesday 23 February, a group of students at SOAS in London occupied the management corridor in our university for nine full days, until we were illegally evicted (dragged out) by private bailiffs late on the night of Thursday 3 March. The occupation has led to a big uptick in on-campus political organising, with over 30 students inside the occupation, and hundreds more gathering outside at times in supporting rallies. The occupation demanded of the university management: accept the demands of the UCU and Unison workers’ disputes; accept and implement the demands of student-led campaigns...

The universities dispute after 2 March

The first two weeks of spring action by the University and College Union (UCU) saw solid action in many universities. But to win the pension and Four Fights disputes we need to escalate the disruption. Management want to ride this out. We need to make that impossible. On 22 February university bosses voted to confirm USS pension cuts. UCU members were furious, while Unison’s success in winning ballots means the possibility of shutting down campuses is now greater. We do not yet know what strategy UCU’s Higher Education Committee has decided on for the weeks after the current schedule of...

AWL bulletin for UCU and UNISON HE strikes, 28 February-2 March 2022

AWL Higher Education workers fraction have produced this bulletin for the UCU and UNISON HE strikes starting 28 February 2022. Please download and read - and distribute if you agree! Let us know what you think - email awl@workersliberty.org We have members in UCU and UNISON and hold regular meetings to discuss building a democratic, fighting rank and file across campus unions.

Student activism is alive, kicking and occupying at Sheffield University

Alice and Gonzo are two of the student activists who occupied five buildings at the University of Sheffield during the first week of industrial action by the University and College Union (UCU). It’s a rainy afternoon on 14 February, and what a better Valentine’s Day gift to the university than to begin a week-long campaign of occupations. At around 2 pm, 16 students entered Jessop West on campus, heading in pairs to locations picked to secure as much access to the building - including prime banner-hanging locations - as possible. Once we had spread out across four floors, the security liaison...

Strikes set example in universities

Higher Education (HE) support staff pay has been eroded by 17% in the last 12 years, and the main union organising among lower-grade admin and estates and facilities staff, Unison, has started to move to address the problem. When this year’s pay offer was just 1.5%, a lot of staff who have had a rough time keeping the universities open during the pandemic felt aggrieved enough to opt for a strike. Breaking with past practice the union ran a disaggregated ballot, first asking for branches that wanted to be balloted. Only 37 out of around 150 branches felt confident to go for a ballot and of...

Workers and students against university bosses

So far, strikes by the University and College Union (UCU) over the USS pensions battle and “Four Fights” dispute (over pay, equality, workload and casualisation) have shown strong resolve from a wide group of members, despite Covid absences having depressed branch organisation and with Covid still having an impact across the UK. UCU members should feel encouraged by this start. Critical to winning these disputes remains three important factors: mobilising more activists to the picket lines, escalating the action, and maintaining the link between the two disputes. Solidarity goes to press...

Students step up strike solidarity

Strikes by the University and College Union (UCU) from 14 February have once again been met with enthusiastic student solidarity. Student organisation is more established than the December strikes, and at many campuses have worked with local UCU members in designing very full teachout schedules. In teachouts, educational topics and methods which are lacking from most formal university settings can be practised and discussed to show the potential of repurposing university spaces. Student solidarity can promote the class struggle in the dispute, and help bring more workers out on strike. At...

Unison to join in at Goldsmiths

From 14 February University and College Union (UCU) members at Goldsmiths in south London are joining both national strikes and local action. In the third week of the strike (28 February to 4 March) UCU members should be joined by Unison members who have recently balloted over redundancies affecting their members. The local action has entered a bitter phase as, after months of industrial action, the college’s Senior Management Team continues to go for 46 compulsory redundancies of professional and academic staff, despite the college having made huge savings through its voluntary redundancy...

UCU dispute needs escalation

As I write on 15 February, after one day of pickets, it is hard to assess the strength of this round of strikes in universities by the University and College Union (UCU) fairly. It remains clear that a solid core of union activists are prepared to continue fighting attacks on our pensions (in the USS dispute) and over issues such as pay, equalities, workloads and casualisation (in the Four Fights dispute), with thousands of staff having walked out across the country, and alongside many students in solidarity. Only about two-thirds of all striking branches are out 14-18 Feb (USS dispute only)...

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