University Workers Back Eight-Day Strike

Staff at Queen's University and Ulster University are facing eight days of strike action from 25 November, it's been confirmed.

Sixty universities from the UK wide University College Union (UCU) backed the action amid disputes over pay and pensions.

Some 583 members of staff at Ulster University are with the UCU, while 933 staff at QUB will be affected.

The union said universities had to respond positively and quickly if they wanted to avoid disruption this year. The disputes centre on changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and universities' failure to make improvements on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads.

It's feared that classes, lectures and other university activities may be affected by the action.

A substantial amount of higher education academics at both local universities took part in strike action over pension changes in 2018.

Overall turnout on the USS ballot was 53% and on pay and conditions it was 49%.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "The first wave of strikes will hit universities later this month unless the employers start talking to us seriously about how they are going to deal with rising pension costs and declining pay and conditions.

"Any general election candidate would be over the moon with a result along the lines of what we achieved last week. Universities can be in no doubt about the strength of feeling on these issues and we will be consulting branches whose desire to strike was frustrated by anti-union laws about reballoting."

The action will last from Monday 25 November to Wednesday 04 December.



(JG/CM)