OXFORD and Cambridge lecturers joined a three thousand-strong march in central London yesterday called by the London Region UCU on the 13th day of nationwide strike action in their struggle to defend their pensions. Placards read: ‘Strike until we win!’ summing up the defiant nature of the march. Lecturers were more determined than ever after defeating an attempt by the leadership of the UCU and Universities UK to foist a sell-out deal on them and call off the strike.
Oxford University archivist Svenja Kunze told News Line: ‘We are here from Oxford to march in London to show the unity of UCU and all universities. ‘We are actually marching together with our rowing rivals at Cambridge to show our unity. ‘We have to protect workers’ rights and pensions, but this struggle goes far beyond pensions.
‘It is about fighting the marketisation of education, about making education what it should be for the public good. ‘The strike should be extended and be the start of a wider debate about privatisation and the market forces behind. ‘I want to see the end of this government.’
A professor of Mathematics at Cambridge and member of the UCU strike committee, Clement Mouhot, said: ‘I am here to win this fight to defend our pensions. ‘That is one step in defending public education for the public good against marketisation. ‘Rejecting Monday’s deal was a victory for the rank and file. ‘We had an emergency branch meeting. 150 people packed into a church hall; over 80% rejected the deal. ‘At the same time we maintained the unity of the branch. We have to win something significant. ‘We need strikes like this that win. That will inspire others.’
UCL student Diogo Vaz said: ‘I believe in this protest. I believe in the teachers strike. There is a wider issue of privatisation. We have to stop privatisation. ‘It is something that has been going on around the world. Education should not be run as a business.’
Strikers outside every main university building on the central campus at Sheffield University were in high spirits following the rejection of the ACAS-agreed offer. UCU anti-casualisation officer for Sheffield University, Sam Morecroft, told News Line: ‘Most importantly it is fantastic that members up and down the country voted to reject this deal and made sure that we did not accept just a few concessions. We are fighting to secure decent pensions for all those working in higher education. ‘We have pushed them back, but twelve universities are still threatening deductions from members’ pay. Our next task is to remove that threat.’
