Following in the footsteps of many sectors in the current economic climate, in early November the UCU voted to go on strike at 150 universities seeking fairer pay, better working conditions and more secure pensions. The industrial action taken between the 24th and 30th of November 2022 was the largest university strike in history with 70,000 staff reported to be on the picket lines. Their demands were fair and simple and included 5 major points: protected pensions, fair pay, an end to casualisation, renegotiated workloads and equality in the workplace.
The desire for a wage which will help university lecturers live comfortably during this cost-of-living crisis is far from unreasonable. Hearing first-hand accounts from tutors who said they could not afford to strike due to the penalty of lost wages put this demand into perspective. In a time when staff and students alike are struggling with record-high inflation standing at 11% combined with the current energy crisis, universities should be offering more support in the form of pay rises and energy bill contributions. However, the current proposal of a £550 one-off payment in lower-income bands and access to financial-platform to help with budgeting is insulting – considering that on average, since 2019, staff have lost 25.9% of their real-time wages, and 35% of their retirement income.
Moreover, research has found that over a third of academics are on temporary and precarious contracts which poses two main issues. The first is the constant insecurity tutors are facing, which is having a practical impact on their lives and research. According to figures in the UCU Report: ‘Counting the costs of casualisation in higher education’, 83% of respondents said it made long-term financial commitments like buying a house difficult, and 89% said they had considered leaving the sector within the last year. This threatens future academic research and the future of higher education. On top of this, contracts that don’t give academics guaranteed hours have a draining effect on their mental health, because there is a constant worry not only about paying bills, but also about future employment security - which partially explains the 316% increase in staff accessing mental health services since 2015. This impacts students too as they will encounter a great number of seminar and personal tutors throughout their degree as a result, causing them disruption also.
The second main issue with casualised contracts is the inequality in the sector that they perpetuate. Women in particular are the most adversely affected by the structural issues with the current processes of casualisation and promotion, as shown by research conducted by the UCU produced in the ‘Precarious work in higher education report’ in 2019. Potential reasons for this could include the lack of maternity pay and the prevention of mothers from gaining contracts and being able to return to work following their leave of absence. Looking at Warwick for example, only 21% of professors identified as women, which highlighted significant discrepancies between staff on casualised contracts and those on fixed contracts. As a result, students are not getting diverse perspectives on their subjects, research will remain colonised, and the culture of academia will remain male-dominated - all while women in higher education remain underappreciated and underrepresented.
“Staff’s working conditions are students learning conditions.”
The impact contracts and pay are having on lecturers and their families, is also in turn having an extensive impact on students - as the popular phrase goes: “staff’s working conditions are students learning conditions.” When students are paying £9,250 in fees every year (over £21,000 for international students), while receiving lectures from overworked tutors under severe financial strain, are we really receiving good value for money? The increasing marketisation of higher education, and profit continually being put before people as a result, is ruining the sector. Students are enjoying less contact time with their tutors and facing a decline in the overall quality of their education. From a student’s perspective, anger about the disruption caused should not be directed at their striking lecturers, but at the university institutions themselves which continually take advantage of both staff and students alike for the purposes of profit and prestige. Having tutors who are not only knowledgeable and passionate about a subject, but also have enough time to prepare for lectures, not rush marking processes and devote more time to office hours, would be highly beneficial for our academic development. To be taught by tutors who are not concerned about paying the bills, going hungry or being cold would also not be too much to ask from universities either. That’s why I joined the staff on the picket line.
Academics don’t want to be stood out in the cold in the winter months, missing a day's pay fighting for justice and for the integrity of the sector they care so deeply about, but frankly what choice do they have? Hearing their stories at the protest of burnout, economic hardship and the helplessness they feel put missing a few lectures into perspective. Tutors are also conscious of the impact their working conditions and the cost-of-living crisis are having on students’ education – they even lobbied the university to donate lost pay to the student hardship fund.
"In a country with the 6th biggest economy in the world (by nominal GDP), no one should be relying on food banks or ‘warm hubs.’ Not our lecturers and not our students."
Too often the media takes a student vs staff mentality when discussing the strikes, but in reality we all have the same goals of living comfortably and thriving in an improved education system. The recent results of the All-Student Vote conducted by the SU signified this as most students are fully supportive of academics’ intentions and voted to support the strikes. This was also shown by the sheer number of students who stood alongside their lecturers on the picket line and the multitude of societies who postponed events which coincided with the strikes. This student support will be essential in the months to come, as the longer the picket the shorter the strikes. The more pressure placed on institutions and the more support the staff get, the better. In a country with the 6th biggest economy in the world (by nominal GDP), no one should be relying on food banks or ‘warm hubs.’ Not our lecturers and not our students.
It is clear that a system change is needed, not just in the higher education sector but beyond this as well. Until universities and the government value these workers it is only understandable why they strike and why these strikes are bigger than ever before. Our lecturers are overworked and underpaid, affecting both students and staff and that’s why I and many others will continue to fight for them.