by Natasha Doris
UCU Twitter released a statement on the 5th of November which said: “UCU announced eight days of strikes starting on 25th November at 60 UK Universities.
UCU, which stands for University and College Union, sparked national strike action on the 22nd of February 2018. This marks the second such strike since their first action shut down institutions across the country.
The group posted details about the strike to their website on Tuesday, stating: “Sixty UK universities will be hit with eight days of strike action from Monday 25th November to Wednesday 4th December.”
The University of Aberdeen has been listed as one of 43 institutions so far which will be taking action on their dissatisfaction due to both working conditions and pensions.
The action is estimated to disrupt the academic studies of approximately one million students. The actions taken by UCU members last year resulted in 40,000 university workers halting their scheduled work, with institutions nationwide grinding to a halt.
The points of contention revolve around the working conditions and the pensions afforded to UCU members. The post continued that “The disputes centre on changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and the universities’ failure to make improvements on pay, equality, casualization and workloads.”
Action taken by members will also include “action short of a strike”, including “working strictly to contract, not covering for absent colleagues and refusing to reschedule lectures lost to strike action.”
The University of Aberdeen has been contacted for comment.
Photo courtesy of the BBC.
