A series of rallies have taken place throughout November, as university lecturers and staff took to picket lines, over better pay, pensions and working conditions.
The University and College Union has called the three-day walkout the biggest in the history of higher education in the UK. The strike action involved 70,000 workers at 150 universities across the country.
Dr Sam Davis, a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, said the university strikes were for everybody struggling, “not just tutors”, amid the current cost of living crisis.
She added: “It’s about students and the cost of living crisis. It’s about our transport workers. It’s about our nurses. We’re one of the biggest institutions in the country training nurses- what are we training them to go into? I’m ashamed, I really am.”
Emily Wheeler, a librarian at the University of Leeds, said: “Any pay rises we’ve had have been well below inflation every year. We’re not getting the money we need to pay for the increase in living costs.”
In a statement, the Vice Chancellor at Leeds Beckett University, Peter Slee, said: “Compromise is essential from both sides.”
He added: “No university in the UK can afford the proposed pay increase of 14%.”
UCU joint secretary at Leeds Beckett University, Erika Laredo, criticised the Vice Chancellor’s response. She said: “The university needs money, but it’s not about making a profit. It’s not just about new buildings, it’s about ensuring a good service for everyone.”
The latest wave of university strike action concluded on Wednesday 30 November. UCU members have said the action will escalate until January if negotiations haven’t been made.
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