The Students’ Union supports the staff strikes, and here is why.

Monday November 18.

 

As you will know by now, staff members from the trade unions have voted to take strike action between November 25 and December 4.

Sadly the nationally rejected requests made by staff on pay, pensions and contracts are a product of this broken system.

 

Motivated, happy staff are the heart of the university experience – educating and supporting us throughout our student journey. However, pay for staff has fallen behind inflation over the last decade – the same decade that has seen fees rise. In addition to these problems with salaries, increasing numbers of staff (many of whom are postgraduate students) are on short-term contracts that provide no long-term stability. To top all of this, women and BAME staff continue to earn significantly less than their white male peers.

 

This is why we are standing in full solidarity with those staff who are going out on strike.

 

As a team, we know the strikes will have an impact on students who have cancelled lectures. Because of this, we have met with the trade unions to ensure that we work together and minimise the disruption on your experience. These discussions were great and the Unions agreed to:

 

1.Ensure students aren’t assessed on missed content

2.Work with us on reform to the personal tutor system

3.Help us decolonise the University

4.Work with us to close the gender and ethnicity pay gaps

5.Ensure there is no disruption at or around graduation ceremonies in January

 

We are publicly calling on the University to lobby its representative organisation to meet with the trade unions and find a quick, positive end to the strikes. Happy working conditions of staff means happy learning conditions for students.

 

There is an FAQ list available here to keep you updated, which the Union and the University will continue to keep updated throughout the strikes.

There is a possibility to get your travel expenses to campus reimbursed, but tuition fees cannot be compensated, as this is too complex an issue.

However, if you want to know where your tuition fees will go, come along to the Annual Members Meeting on 26 November in Peter Williams where we discuss where the university’s saving on paying striking lecturers can be allocated.

If you have any questions, you can email us (su-exec@le.ac.uk) or drop into the Union’s Advice Unit between 10-4.