Everything that has happened in the first two weeks of strikes in Birmingham

Thousands of staff have been on strike across the country, including those at the University of Birmingham. Yesterday marked day seven of strike action, with the staff walk out set to last 10 days altogether.

Strike rallies took place at five locations outside the UoB campus, supported by many students who joined the picket lines despite the disruption to their studies.

Staff are continuing to strike as negotiation attempts to resolve the disputes have failed between the union and university management. One major concern staff are striking against is a 35 per cent proposed cut to staff pensions. The UCU has attempted to negotiate with employers with proposed compromises and alternatives to the cuts.

With no changes being made by university management, strike action has continued into the second week of the proposed action. The UCU has encouraged students to stand by the striking staff fighting for uncertainty over their pension and pay inequality.

The Birmingham Tab asked students how the recent strikes have affected their studies. 56 per cent of studies voted yes that the strikes have affected their studies while 44 per cent voted no. On Friday (18/02) when asked whether the strikes have caused more disruption to their lectures than Storm Eunice, 62 per cent of students could relate while 38 per cent said no.

A Philosophy and English student, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Birmingham Tab: “I am so scared of failing to be honest, I can’t teach myself three weeks of content I don’t understand.” Despite this, they are fully in support of the strikes alongside another English student who said: “Strikes have affected me in all my years of university, on top of the impact of Covid-19. As annoying as it is I fully support the staff striking as the way staff are being treated is so unfair.”

The poll we conducted on our Instagram

The Birmingham Tab spoke to the student organisation @solidarityuob who said: “As students, we stand with striking staff. The issues UCU are striking on affect us all: staff being underpaid and overworked directly impacts our education. Strikes are difficult and disruptive for students and staff but without short-term disruption, we will never achieve long-term wins for better education.”

Solidarity UoB have shared information on teach outs which have taken place each day of strike action. The teach outs cover various topics of interest by the striking staff in the form of lectures, seminars and workshops.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ_iRwPNGcc/?utm_medium=copy_link

There are more teach outs set to take place in the third week of strikes:

‘A day in the life of Members of staff giving an account of their typical working day’ by Anke Butner, on Tuesday (01/03) in the Guild Chambers.

‘Birmingham Fair Housing Campaign’ on Wednesday (02/03) in the Guild Chambers, speakers to be confirmed.

Further disruption has also been caused to lecturers as well as students. Guest speaker Saima Razzaq had her lecture cancelled by senior members of the university after asking to relocate her lecture in respect of the picket lines. She was due to give a lecture on ‘Intersectionality’ last Wednesday (16/02) but was unable to do so after the university cancelled it.

Due to Storm Eunice physical pickets were unable to go ahead on Friday (18/02) but the BUCU gave information on how students and staff can continue to support the strikes from home by sharing information online and donating to the fighting hardship fund organised by Andrew Olson.

Students concerned about the impact of the strikes are encouraged to contact the university management via email.

Strikes are set to continue on Monday (21/02) and Tuesday (22/02) next week unless a resolution is found.

The University of Birmingham said: The University is committed to ensuring that we continue to be a positive environment to learn and work.

“We are focused on minimising the impact of any industrial action on our students, and have been working with the Schools and Departments affected by the strikes to ensure appropriate mitigations are in place. This includes every effort to provide alternative arrangements for any cancelled events, lectures, seminars, individual appointments and lab sessions.

“For those who are concerned about what strike action and missed teaching might mean for exams and assessments, we continue to put mitigations in place to ensure that students are not disadvantaged in any assessment activity. We encourage our students to speak to their course team or Head of School in the first instance if you have any queries or concerns about how your School is planning to respond to and mitigate the impact of any missed sessions in your subject area.

“As one of a number of employers nationally involved in the current dispute, we are disappointed that the strikes are happening again as there has been positive progress since the last strike. We continue to engage with the national negotiations between universities (as employers) and the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) to address these important issues, and to try and bring the dispute to an end.”

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