TV Editor Josie Scott-Taylor emphasises the importance of solidarity between students and staff, arguing that the UCU strikes aim to pave the way for a better educational freedom for all
Lecturers are striking, students are angry, and the stress levels of everyone at university are rapidly increasing, all because of the same core reasons – the pandemic, poor teaching and learning environments, and a callous and oppressive approach from university management. So, why is there such a divide between staff and students, when we are all fighting for the same cause? After all, their teaching environment is our learning environment. University staff are on strike because their workplace circumstances are not conducive to productive teaching and happy lifestyles. Their teaching environment is our learning environment
As every university student will be aware by now, the last few weeks of campus life have been severely disrupted by industrial action that has stretched across ten days this time. The main reasons for the strikes are reduced pensions, workplace discrimination, and the casualisation of university employees. The UCU has announced that pension cuts will result in the average lecturer losing around 35% of their guaranteed retirement income, with university Vice Chancellors choosing to ‘steal tens of thousands from the retirement income of staff’, according to UCU general secretary Jo Grady. A May 2021 report surveying 122 LGBTQ+ members of staff from six different UK universities showed that a shocking 77% of respondents have considered leaving the higher education sector due to discrimination and workplace inequality. Another UCU report, published in 2017, estimated that it will take around 40 years to close the academic gender pay gap. These appalling statistics illustrate exactly why university staff are striking, but there is still a surprising lack of outward support being shown.
Students cannot continue to learn effectively if so many university staff members are being discriminated against, burnt out, and stripped of their ‘guaranteed’ pensions. They are tired, stressed, and overworked, and the last thing they want to do is go on (unpaid) strike for ten days. Many students, however, seem to be under the impression that staff are simply taking time off for fun, and that striking is a choice they’re all too happy to make. The motivations behind the strikes reach further and wider than you might imagine, too – I spoke to one postgraduate student, who highlighted that he and many of his peers are staff too, meaning that they are also affected by the pension cuts. ‘A lot of postgraduates I know are even more worried about the viability of their career choice, particularly because it will offer them little to no security in retirement,’ he told me, explaining that low pay, high workloads, pay inequality, and staff casualisation can ‘filter out who can carry on in higher education too, tending to mean it’s only viable for the independently wealthy.’ Students cannot continue to learn effectively if so many university staff members are being discriminated against, burnt out, and stripped of their ‘guaranteed’ pensions
I also spoke to Vicky Blake, President of the UCU, and she highlighted the importance of student-staff solidarity, particularly in post-pandemic life. Although the pandemic offered staff and students an opportunity to band together and view the quality of higher education under a new lens, it has also led to more and more members of staff ‘working into the night, working at the weekend, and working at the expense of time spent with loved ones, at the expense of loved ones,’ often leading to many members needing to take time off for overwork and stress. She explained that many students don’t understand why staff are so angry until they become aware of just how much work they are expected to do, but the strikes and picket lines have opened up a space for more conversations about this to happen.
While being on the picket lines has been disheartening at times (particularly in miserable weather conditions), being given the opportunity to show my support and be inspired by others has been empowering. Although many students look away when offered a leaflet, or give picketers a wide berth, criticising those who don’t show support is not the way forward. Instead, we need to recognise that staff and students have a common enemy and a common goal, and should be working together to achieve what we want. Staff and students have a common enemy and a common goal, and should be working together to achieve what we want
Solidarity between students and staff is becoming increasingly important in a world where we are more and more divided, and we are not going to achieve the desired and deserved quality of life in higher education unless we stick together. Every member of staff understands that strikes are inconvenient and frustrating, but they are not the enemy – university management is. Universities UK, representing employers, claims that ‘it is unclear why UCU thinks it’s appropriate for students to suffer due to the scheme’s increased costs and the regulatory constraints under which pensions operate in the UK,’ but they what fail to highlight here is that we as students are suffering at the hands of their greed and callousness. If they sought to improve the quality of higher education, the strikes would not need to happen. Education is not a commodity, so show solidarity in support of a free, fair, and equal university system for all.
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