The UCU calls out for two more full days of strike action on February 21-22 2022 over the working conditions of the academic staff after the re-ballot vote.
This comes after the strike days that happened in December where the University and College Union started protesting over the four fights, related to pay inequality, deflation and unstainable workloads.
Associate professor and Chairman of the UCU, Dr Nicholas Freestone said: “One of the branches nationally to reach the 50 per cent voting threshold (60+ per cent at KU) and of these colleagues, a huge majority voted for strike action, “In the strike days before Christmas the branch saw the most number of colleagues demonstrating and picketing on the street that it has ever had in recent times. More students got exposed to the inequitable and unsatisfactory working conditions at KU for colleagues and the union Branch at KU recruited many new members.”
The University and College Union has over 130,000 members including lecturers, academics, researchers, postgraduate students and many others in the UK.
To become a member of the UCU though, you have to have a membership which cost depends on your employment income.
“I am not a member of the UCU because of the high membership fees. I also have a young family to take care of and if I miss out on working days to participate in these strikes I won’t get paid,” Media Technology and Film lecturer, Philip Richardson said.
Students, and in particular international students given the amount of fees they pay, are also impacted by these strikes due to disruption of lessons but are very supportive of this cause, some even joined their lecturers in the first protest in December to show their support.
First-year journalism international student, Limo Longiroi said: “I thought the strike was the lecturer's opportunity to air out their grievances and for that reason I was not against it.
And also the classes missed could always be done later.”
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