Strike action by uni staff

The first of a planned 18 days of strike action over the next two months by lecturers and university staff hit Stirling this week.

Members of the UCU at Stirling University were among an estimated 70,000 staff striking across around 150 UK institutions on Wednesday in a dispute over pay, working conditions and pensions.

The union has called on the Universities and Colleges Employers Association to improve its current pay offer of a minimum of five per cent, according to the UCEA.

But the UCU says that offer falls well short of helping members deal with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and is below the current rate of inflation.

The dispute also touches on long-running issues related to pensions. The UCU claim a“package of cuts” introduced last year would see the average member lose 35 per cent of guaranteed future retirement income.

A UCU Stirling spokesperson said:“as with other disputes just now the immediate issue is the cost of living crisis. The current pay proposal from the employers is a below inflation pay offer, which is unacceptable to the union nationally, and unaffordable for our many members in Stirling who are on the lower rungs of the university pay scale.

“Members across the country are furious about the cuts to their pension benefits, equating on average to roughly a third of pension value being lost.

Raj Jethwa, UCEA’S chief executive, said: “Despite the initial feedback from HE institutions suggesting low and isolated impact on students, it is saddening if even a single student is impacted, especially when UCEA made an unprecedented full and final pay offer of between eight per cent and five per cent more than three months in advance of the usual timetable.

“Attempts at strike action will do nothing to support students, staff or the many HE institutions struggling to deliver such a financially challenging pay offer this early.”