UK university strikes: Students face disruption as university staff back fresh walkouts

Industrial action 'inevitable' if institutions fail to address concerns, union leader warns

(Alamy)

More than a million students could face a fresh wave of walkouts at universities across the UK, after staff have voted in favour of strike action over pensions, pay and working conditions.

Students at 56 institutions could be disrupted by strikes after university workers backed action in a dispute over pay and conditions, the University and College Union (UCU) announced.

A separate ballot on pension changes may also lead to industrial action at 43 universities and colleges across the UK.

Overall, 79 per cent of UCU members who voted in a ballot over pensions backed strike action and 74 per cent of UCU members in a ballot over pay and working conditions supported walkouts.

It comes after universities were brought to a standstill by unprecedented strikes last year over pensions. Some institutions were forced to pay compensation to students over lost hours.

University staff will pay around £40,000 more into their pension – but they will receive nearly £200,000 less in retirement following reforms to the pension scheme, the UCU says.

Increased contributions and other changes to the universities superannuation scheme (USS) mean that many people are suffering substantial losses, the union has previously warned.

The list of universities that could be affected by strike action includes many leading institutions in the UK - such as Cambridge, Oxford, Durham and University College London.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the UCU, said: “The ballots reflect just how unhappy and angry staff are at the state of higher education in the UK.

“It is incredibly frustrating that we had to ballot members again, but universities only have themselves to blame after failing to address falling real-terms pay and for refusing to deal with casualisation, workloads and the rising cost of USS pensions.

“Universities now have to come back to us prepared to work seriously to address these problems. If they choose to ignore this message from their staff then strike action looks inevitable.”

The union said it balloted more than 52,000 USS members in 69 universities for strike action and overall turnout was 53 per cent.

A spokesperson for Universities UK, which represents university employers, said: “Employers remain open to further talks with UCU to discuss how the dispute can be resolved without industrial action, which would be damaging for staff and students. Recent negotiations between UCU and Universities UK concluded with no cuts to USS pension benefits, and employers paying the majority of the extra contributions required under pensions law.

“In a challenging economic environment, this outcome is the best that could be achieved. Crucially, it is acceptable to both the USS Trustee and The Pensions Regulator.”

The union’s higher education committee will meet on Friday to consider the next steps.