Students and staff react to news of the UCU strikes
A survey conducted by Epigram reveals that while a majority of students (80% of respondents) support the upcoming UCU strike action in February and March, many are angry at the delayed communication from the university about the potential impacts to teaching.
One commented: ‘Lecturers deserve the pensions! They often give their all to university; I know mine are worth the money.’
Another wrote: ‘I support the strike action because I think it's incredibly unfair that the staff are losing out on their pensions when the higher paid staff such as the vice chancellors are better off.’
At the time of writing, a week and a half after strike action was confirmed, students had not heard anything from university surrounding potential impacts or mitigation efforts. One respondent commented: ‘Any anger by students should be directed at the University's Executive Group who have put lecturers and their students in a terrible position. Their response to this strike has been laughable. They have made no attempt to communicate with us. We need to be told who is striking, how it will impact us, and whether we will be allowed extenuating circumstances.’
Others agreed with the dispute, but questioned the methods used: ‘The staff dispute is valid but is with their pensions provider, not the students, so the student shouldn’t suffer. I will be writing to feed department for the refund on hours of teaching missed which adds up to around £600.’ Another wrote: ‘I think it is unfair that the tutors may lose so much of their pensions, but it is also unfair that it will affect our education, which is already so limited and so expensive as an arts student. I agree that they should be protesting, but it should not affect us - we are the wrong target.’
Although in the minority in this survey, some student respondents disagreed entirely with the action: ‘Completely unacceptable. I pay £9000 a year for tuition, not to subsidise tutors to go on strike’ and another stressed the strikes were ‘very disruptive to student learning’.
A number of staff members also responded to the survey to explain why they are planning to strike. Responding staff members largely stressed didn’t they want to strike, but are being forced to due to the severity of the issues involved. One commented: ‘We love teaching, we love our students, and we want to give them the best education possible - but we need to withdraw our labour power to force the University back to the negotiation table. We hope that students will understand - and join in to fight for their rights, for a good education, and for solidarity in the face of systematic exploitation.’ Another stressed the fact staff members will lose income over strike days: ‘I am striking despite the fact that I stand to lose £1626.80 in salary in the next couple of months. I can't afford this. I have no savings, only debts, and I'm going to be buying food and probably paying bills with credit cards. I can't afford to strike…nor can I afford not to.’
A key explanation striking staff members cited for their motivation for striking was a concern over their economic position in retirement: ‘I would prefer not to starve in retirement, and because of the absurdities of the academic job market I did not start paying into a pension until I was 30 years old, so I need everything I can get.’ Another common threat was against the marketization of higher education: ‘I am striking because I care about my students: this attack on pensions is one more step towards the privatisation of Higher Education.’
While a lot of the focus of the strikes is on lecturers, it is also important to remember the impact on hourly paid staff members and graduate students. One staff member commented: ‘I have been disappointed to see senior permanent staff members who are intending to strike bullying more precarious hourly paid teachers and graduate students who are less sure about their position. Unlike standard UCU members (i.e more senior staff members), hourly paid teachers do not enjoy the same protections - we are at risk of facing disciplinary action for 'breach of contract' in a way that standard UCU members are not. it is disappointing to see more senior faculty members treating graduate students and hourly paid teachers in this paid, even though we are all in full support of the strike.’
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