Today will see students plunge into poverty as lecturers start a three day strike, prompted in part by the hard-Left factions within their union.
Staff will picket on 58 campuses to protest the decision to cancel classes and disrupt services. After students had already endured months of distant learning, universities called the walkouts “disappointing”.
UCU, the University and College Union organized the strike to protest pay and changes in the pension system for lecturers. Negotiations broke down after a refusal to compromise by the ‘UCU Left’ faction – which is affiliated with the Socialist Workers Party.

Students will protest at 58 campus campuses, urging staff to abandon the classroom and to take to the streets to disrupt services and cancel classes. File image
Last night, Universities UK – which represents vice chancellors – said the pension demands were ‘unrealistic’, could lead to ‘insolvency’ and added the UCU campaign ‘is nothing more than a smokescreen for their ideologically entrenched opposition to corporate finance’.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Staff are asking for the bare minimum… but sadly, the only time vice chancellors seem to listen is when staff take action.’
Universities are likely to be deluged by compensation claims from students trying to claw back refunds on their £9,250 annual fees for missed lectures.
Last night, an Open University student stated that students are in “limbo.” It’s possible that the information I seek may be unavailable. I am panicking. [from lectures].’
UCU claimed Universities UK representing vice chancellors wants to alter the Universities Superannuation Scheme which was based on a flawed valuation.
According to union, it will result in a reduction of 35% of the members’ annual retirement income.
The UCU stated that salaries for university workers fell by 17.6 percent relative to inflation, between 2009 and 2019.
The UCU is rejecting pension changes and calling for a £2,500 pay increase as well as the elimination of zero-hours contracts.

The UCU is rejecting pension changes and calling for a £2,500 pay increase as well as the elimination of zero-hours contracts (file image)
UUK stated that strike was not representative of the total number of pensioners eligible to vote in favor of the plan. This is because many of these members are not part of the union.
The scheme’s proposed modifications would keep it attractive throughout the country, the report stated.
UCU thought they had formulated a counter-proposal for pensions. This may have been stopped by UCU Left’s two negotiators.
Dr Deepa Govindarajan and Dr Hersh Driver published a blog posting opposing the plan. It was not presented at the negotiation table.
This led to negotiations breaking down and a strike.

UCU thought they had formulated a counter-proposal regarding pensions. However, this could have been stopped by UCU Left negotiators Jo Grady and John Grant. Jo Grady is the general secretary for UCU. (file image).
A UCU spokesperson said that the UCU Left negotiators were disappointing. “It’s beyond disappointing that as many university employees are on strike, UUK decided to target individual UCU members.
“Uk should not engage in desperate, last-minute deflection strategies to weaken the strikers. Instead, UUK must be honest about the real impact of its pension cuts.
“Students, staff and others will be able to ask the vice chancellors why they allow their representative body run amok rather than negotiating positively to resolve another sector dispute.
UUK spokesmen stated that the UCU Left is associated with the Socialist Workers Party and there are a series of checks being made against UCU leadership.
Unidentified UUK spokesperson stated that the UCU proposal was not being disclosed to universities.
“But, it’s notable that UCU’s Pensions Negotiators were members of UCU Left and publicly undermined this proposal. They wrote a blog posting in which they strongly opposed it.
“Indeed there are a series of checks by UCU Left on UCU leadership, who is affiliated with the Socialist Workers Party.