UK University Lecturers Begin Strike over Poor Pay

University Lecturers in the United Kingdom (UK) have begun an industrial action citing poor remunerations.

They are also demanding improved pension schemes among others.

The Lecturers began the strike on Monday, February 14 and intend to spread it over 3 weeks.

The industrial action begins the same day that Nigeria’s Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on a one-month strike over government’s failure to meet it’s demands.

The first week of the strike in the UK, which would address pension-related issues, is billed to hold in 44 varsities across the UK between February 14 to 18.

This would be followed by a two-day march scheduled for February 21 and 22 across 68 institutions over pensions, pay, and working conditions and in the third week, about 63 institutions will embark on a three-day strike from February 28 to March 2.

The last day of the industrial action is expected to hold simultaneously with a strike also declared by some students across the UK’s most-populated institutions such as the Open University, University College London, and the University of Manchester.

UK Lecturers’ grievances:

• The University and College Union (UCU), the body representing varsity staff across the UK, is asking the government for a £2,500 pay increase in salary for its members.
• An end to “pay injustice” and zero-hours contracts as well as action to tackle “unmanageable workloads”.
• End to lingering face-off over poor pension scheme

The action of the lecturers is reported to have been triggered by concerns on the valuation of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the pension scheme used for academic staff in varsities.

The UCU had argued that the valuation of the scheme was “flawed” since it took effect at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic “when global markets were crashing”.

The union also said sustaining the new arrangement would take a toll on its members’ guaranteed retirement income by 35%.