The University and College Union has said its planned UK national strike will take place on 24, 25 and 30 November, with staff at 150 universities across the country taking industrial action over pay, working conditions and pensions.
UCU said about 2.5 million students would be affected, but “disruption can be avoided if employers act fast and make improved offers. If they don’t, strike action will escalate in the new year alongside a marking and assessment boycott.”
The strikes come after UCU members carried out a national ballot in favour of strike action, continuing a series of strikes that have previously been confined to individual universities.
Jo Grady, the UCU general secretary, said: “Campuses across the UK are about to experience strike action on a scale never seen before. Seventy thousand staff will walk out and make clear they refuse to accept falling pay, cuts to pensions and insecure employment.
“This is not a dispute about affordability – it is about choices. Vice-chancellors are choosing to pay themselves hundreds of thousands of pounds whilst forcing our members on to low paid and insecure contracts that leave some using food banks. They choose to hold billions in surpluses whilst slashing staff pensions.
“If university vice-chancellors don’t get serious, our message is simple – this bout of strike action will be just the beginning.”
