Universities and higher education colleges across the country will be brought to a halt tomorrow as a historic joint AUT/NATFHE pay strike hits home.
Thousands of students are expected to join strikers on the picket lines outside most campus entrances and thousands of lectures will be cancelled as members of lecturers’ unions the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and NATFHE take action.
Rallies are scheduled to take place in several university towns and cities throughout the UK.
AUT general secretary Sally Hunt, NATFHE head of universities department Roger Kline and Kat Fletcher NUS, will be addressing a joint union rally at Central Hall Westminster, 1pm for 1.30pm start.
Both lecturers’ unions reiterated yesterday that any industrial action is a last resort to force employers to take them seriously.
The unions say they are taking action because promises to improve staff pay, using new money coming into the higher education sector from increased fees and funding, have been broken.
They stress that they have been trying to resolve the dispute since October and the employers have not yet made them any kind of pay offer.
In a joint statement, the unions added that following tomorrow’s strike: ‘On Wednesday, lecturers will begin an assessment boycott, which could leave millions of students with coursework unmarked, lectures and seminars cancelled, and their exam programmes thrown into chaos if a pay deal cannot be reached.
‘If this becomes a protracted dispute students could even be prevented from graduating in the summer.’
In a joint statement on the eve of tomorrow’s action, the unions reported they have been bolstered by the news that more than 120 MPs have signed up to a Westminster resolution declaring their support for pay increases.
The statement said: ‘The resolution (Early Day Motion 1540) is even signed by four members of the Education and Skills Select Committee, and urges university vice-chancellors to “seek a settlement to the current pay dispute”.’
Roger Kline, head of the universities department at NATFHE, said: ‘This is a tremendous expression of cross-party support from the whole of the UK. It has surpassed our target of 100 MPs.’
Sally Hunt, AUT general secretary, said: ‘The MPs’ statement is typical of the widespread support we have received in our campaign for fair pay.
‘Lecturers’ pay has declined by 40 per cent in relative terms over the last 20 years. Our claim is sensible, costed and fully merited. The only people who continue to procrastinate on the issue are the vice-chancellors, and they themselves told Parliament they would be using the new money coming into the sector to sort out staff pay.
‘Tomorrow’s strike action should not be happening and it is up to the employers to make us an offer now to prevent further widespread disruption.’
