*First published at Kent Buzz*
University staff across the UK began the first of eighteen planned days of strike action this week.
University and College Union (UCU) members are striking in dispute over pay, working conditions and pensions.
It is expected that 70,000 staff members will take part in the industrial action at 150 universities across the UK during February and March. This action will be the biggest series of strikes ever to hit UK universities.
University of Kent student Natasha Bevis-Forrester is calling upon universities to re-imburse students for lost teaching.
She said: “I ran the numbers and with all of my teachers indicating that they are going to be striking – I could be missing up to 52% of my classes this term which is quite shocking really.
“What’s happening is they’re pitting teachers against students when really everyone should be angry at the University and the boards that aren’t paying people enough.
“Obviously there is a lot of anger amongst students against not getting their money’s worth, but really we need to be directing that at the administration that decided a free cup of coffee, or the £25 I got last year, is enough to make up for hundreds of pounds of missed time.”
The University of Kent and Kent Union voted against supporting the strike action, as both expressed that less disruptive negotiations should have been made before resorting to strikes.
Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Education and Student Experience for the University of Kent expressed how the University board is approaching the industrial action.
He said: “We know that the industrial action is not fair on you and we urge the national bodies involved to reach a resolution as quickly as possible.
“In the meantime, we will continue to do what we can to minimise the impact of the strikes in line with our principles outlined on our industrial webpages.
“I can only apologise for this and share your frustrations that we are unable to resolve these national issues on our own here at Kent.”
There are a further seventeen strike days planned, but UCU general secretary Jo Grady claimed it could be avoided and that any future disruptions is entirely the responsibility of university bosses.
Comentarios