UNIVERSITY lecturers say the response from students to 10 days of strikes starting on Monday over pay, pensions and working conditions has been “overwhelming”.
Students at 68 institutions will see their lecturers walk out in disputes over “beyond disgraceful” pay, conditions and pensions, the University and College Union (UCU) has said.
In the first week of strikes, 44 universities will be involved over a dispute about cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme, which the union has said would reduce the guaranteed retirement income of a typical member by 35%.
A UCU protest in Glasgow. Photograph: PA
Some 68 universities will be involved in the second week of strikes over pensions, pay and working conditions, with staff walking out on two days – February 21 and 22.
In the third week of strike action, 63 universities will walk out over three days on pay and working conditions only, on February 28 to March 2.
The March 2 walkout has been co-ordinated with a student strike organised by the National Union of Students (NUS).
Striking lecturers have reported being buoyed by the support from students, with some undergraduates bringing cakes and biscuits to the picket line.
University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Jo Grady said that the “response from students has been overwhelming and I want to thank every single one of them for standing with us”.
Henry Stead, a Latin lecturer at St Andrews University, said that student support was “hugely important” for staff, adding that students had brought cakes and biscuits to the picket to boost morale.
“None of us want to be out on strike,” he said.
“We hate how these issues are impacting our students. So, it’s great to know that they understand and even better, that they are standing with us.”
“They were bringing us biscuits and cakes – they were organised,” he added.
“They know exactly what’s going on and are behaving like politically engaged citizens. It’s so nice to see. If the student support wasn’t there, I think many colleagues would find it really hard.”
Some Classics students at St Andrews appeared holding placards that read “Honk, haec, hic” – a play on words of “hic, haec, hoc” from Latin rote learning.
Dr Stead’s sign read “Perdidistis omnia”, which he said is from “the Roman poem by Catullus – it means ‘You have ruined everything'”.
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