Pay falling and pension cuts are not reasonable

For three days that 6000 staff in Scotland have started striking because of their wages deduction. This strike has begun from Wednesday up to Friday.

 The working situation is getting worse and worse every day. The retired staff can’t expect for pension anymore.

(UCU)the University and College Union in Scotland decided to strike for three days to protest at this condition.

Staff have made lines in front of the university for the sake of protesting these new rules that are against their fundamental right. Even the UK staff are doing the same action to join these protestors.

Staff at seven Universities- Hotel Watt, Dundee, Stirling, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and the Open University in Scotland- will strike over pay and pensions.

Staff at Edinburg Napier, Glasgow School of Art and Queen Margaret University will pay only.

According to the union, UUK had repeatedly said its cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)pensions would reduce staff pensions by 10% to 18%.

The union said staff pay has fallen by 20% after 12 years of below-inflation pay offers, while almost 90,000 academic and academic-related staff are on insecure contracts. However, the USS trustees’ modelling shows that a typical member will see a 36% cut.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “it is deplorable that staff have been forced into taking industrial action again, but sadly university bosses have shown little interest in negotiation good faith and addressing the severe staff concerns over falling pay, massive pension cuts, equality pay gaps and the rampant use of insecure contracts.

“The truth is that staff are asking for the bare minimum, but sadly, the only time vice-chancellors and principles seem to listen is when staff take action, and those leading our universities should not underestimate their determination to change this sector. For the better.”

A UUK spokesperson added: “it is deeply frustrating to be facing industrial action over USS pensions- only one is for USS scheme members are UCU members.

“out of 50,000 ballots mailed out, only 20,000 were cast in favour of strike action; this puts support for pension strikes among UCU members at 40%, which accounts for less than 10% of the 203,000 active scheme members in USS.

Scottish university staff strike for pension deduction

Working conditions for staff will be challenging. Pay falling and pension cuts are not reasonable, and UCU has said that “if employers continue to ignore staff demands, they will continue their actions.”

Their strike in three consecutive days will hit 58 universities across the UK, including ten universities in Scotland.

After informing this strike the managers, UUC met with employer representative’s universities UK(UUK) just last week over pension cuts, but UUK refused to reverse them.

UCEA (University and Colleges Employers Association) doesn’t decide to investigate the staff conditions. UCEA hasn’t agreed to pay the staff pension, and it hasn’t agreed on their pay increment, even it hasn’t paid attention to the inflation and hasn’t done any movement to reduce it.

UCU members of 10 Scottish institutions delivered their protests in separate ballots over their pension cuts and pay deductions. Last month, they did it, and 73% of students supported the staff.

According to the new law, staff pension will be cut by 10% to 18%. The gender pay gap in UK universities sits at 15%, whilst the disability pay gap is 9%. The race pay gap is 17%. Staff are also experiencing a crisis of work-related stress, with over half showing possible signs of depression.

UCU is asking for a 2.5 thousand pound pay increment for all staff to solve this problem. If universities can’t control this raucousness, insecure contracts and pay inequality will harm this section.

This union wants to continue this strike to get a result. They do even decide to expand this union out of Scotland parliament.

Because of covid new variant Omicron and anxiety about its spreading, this union will hold its strike online to prevent Omicron from spreading.

This union is holding today on Thursday, December 2, online.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘it is deplorable that staff have been forced into taking industrial action again, but sadly university bosses have shown little interest in negotiating in good faith.”

The staff are demanding the bare minimum, but unfortunately, principles are not paying attention to their request. The principals only take action in situations that staff strike and show their protest in the worst way.

Staff are protesting all around Britain and Scotland on separate ballots. 

Staff strikeout of Glasgow college

According to the most recent ballots, workers and staff are striking for the sake of equal payments.

Up to now, no one has shown any interest to investigate the staff situation, and it is too regrettable they have to do these actions to protect their right.

Their request is not abnormal, but the university bosses haven’t shown an unusual reaction to their protest.

Their request is entirely accurate, and bosses must specify a time to negotiate and satisfy them.

Unfortunately, the chancellors and principles listen to these protests when staff take action and strike to get their rights.

In a statement, a UUK spokesperson said:” it is deeply frustrating to be facing industrial action over USS pensions.

“Only one in four UUS scheme members are UCU members.

“out of 50,000 ballots mailed out, only 20,000 were cast in favour of strike action. This puts support for pensions strikes among UCU members at 40%, accounting for less than 10% of the 203,000 active scheme members in USS.

“nonetheless, UUK repeatedly offered to share alternative proposals with employers, and that offer remains.

“we wrote to UCU on September 7 to clarify this, but to date, we have received no apply.”

The UCU says the action will escalate in the new year if employers continue to ignore staff demands.

The current situation causes a staff strike.

The only reason that causes university employees to strike in 10 universities across Scotland is the bosses’ lawlessness.

Lecturers, professors, researchers and professional services staff such as a library, student support and IT workers- are taking part in this strike.

No one wants to strike and annoy himself for three days. But the university principles have created a situation that the staff feel insecure. They broke the law and irritated the team.

Even students support this action because they know that their learning depends on the work condition of the staff.

They will receive a pension that doesn’t satisfy them, and after 12 years, it is not their accurate and valid right.

There is a high salary inequality. Even women’s salary is going to decrease because of their gender.

Even there is a high pay difference because of ethnic and race discrimination. So all workers have an unsafe job condition that annoys them.

The union has consistently told employers that this situation is unsustainable.

We cannot have a thriving, world-leading university sector based on depressing staff pay, cutting pensions, and exploiting workers on casualised employment contracts with unsafe workloads and unequal pay.

Students are giving strong support to their librarians, lecturers and administrators. They have a union. The name of this union is the National Union of students.

Students are standing with the staff in the same line and supporting their university staff.

They know that the quality of their studying has a close relation to their university staff.