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From The Socialist newspaper, 11 February 2020
University strikers walk out for better pay and pensions
UCU strikers at the University of Nottingham, 27 February 2018, photo Gary Freeman (Click to enlarge)
Bea Gardner, UCU Southampton branch executive (personal capacity)
The University and College Union (UCU) has announced 14 days of further strike action for universities currently in dispute over pensions, pay and conditions.
The action will start on Thursday 20 February and escalate each week, finishing with a week-long walkout from Monday 9 to Friday 13 March. In total, 74 universities will be taking part, 14 more than in the eight days of action before Christmas.
Before Christmas, 60 institutions, including approximately 42,000 members, took eight consecutive days of strike action, and have been participating in action short of strike since then over pay (and pay inequality), working conditions (casualisation and excessive workloads) and pensions. They will now be joined by more universities and workers taking strike action.
So far, employers have refused to budge from their current below-inflation pay offer of 1.8%. Management claims it is unaffordable to increase pay, but university income, surpluses and reserves have all increased. A victory on pay is the most concrete way of ensuring university management concedes to improving staff conditions and our share of the income.
Like the 2018 strike, members must be willing to reject an inadequate offer. In 2018 the potential sell-out of the pension dispute was halted by members on the ground. One way of preparing members for this is by electing local strike committees to lead the next round of action.
This new round of strike action is a fantastic starting point for a fightback across both further and higher education destroyed by decades of marketisation and austerity.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
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In The Socialist 11 February 2020:
News
Tackling climate change: Johnson emits huge quantities of hot air!
Windrush deportations: end the hostile environment
Streatham attack: Johnson's bill can't stop terror
NHS
Unnecessary surgery scandal shows need for democratic control of NHS
NHS debt so high it can't be repaid - so don't pay it!
Callous Tory cuts to children's speech therapy in Nottinghamshire
Trade unions
Trade unions - new decade, new challenges
Workplace news
Big Unison south east regional meeting votes for anti-cuts position
PCS union: Uniting the left around a leadership that can win for members
Westex workers win increased pay offer in 11th week of strike
University strikers walk out for better pay and pensions
East London school strikes against academisation continue
Foreign Office workers' strike
Solidarity with Turkish workers
Solidarity with victimised bus rep Moe
Cuts
How to resist tory attacks on local communities
Cuts councillors are the real problem
Council houses - not private property developers
International
Sinn Fein harnesses working-class anger to top poll
Lebanon - mass protests cut across sectarian division
Campaigns
Build independent workers' media with May Day greetings
Building a working-class movement for Tamil rights
Hackney: We don't want homes and retail units working-class people can't afford
Universal Credit
New BBC series - Insight or whitewash?
Nottingham: death of vulnerable claimant
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