University staff join strikes on 1 February

Staff crossed 150 UK universities volition onslaught connected 1 February, the University and College Union has announced.

It is the archetypal of 18 onslaught days planned successful February and March. The UCU said it would corroborate the different 17 adjacent week.

A wage connection worthy 4-5% made during talks with employers past week was insufficient, it said.

But the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association has said the connection is really worthy up to 7%.

UCU wide caput Jo Grady said unit would beryllium walking retired "alongside chap commercialized unions".

University unit held 3 days of strikes successful November. Some world unit and those successful different nonrecreational roles, including administrators, librarians and technicians, besides walked retired earlier successful 2022 and successful 2021.

This year's 3% wage summation is acold beneath the Retail Prices Index (RPI) complaint of inflation, which presently stands astatine 14%.

But the quality has besides included calls to tackle "excessive workloads" resulting successful hours of "unpaid work".

And galore unit members are protesting astatine the usage of short-term insecure contracts.

At the universities that person existed since earlier 1992, determination is besides a abstracted dispute, astir projected changes to the pension scheme.

National strikes by teachers successful England and Wales are scheduled for 1 February, 15 and 16 March. There are respective determination dates too.