Birmingham UCU is balloting members on further strike action

The Birmingham branch of the University and College Union (UCU) held a rally at the University of Birmingham on the 12th of October. The event was to encourage members, including teaching and research staff, to vote yes to industrial action and return their ballots before the 21st of October.

The Birmingham UCU have said “the latest pay ‘award’ set by UCEA and already imposed by the University of Birmingham will leave our members with the biggest real terms pay cut we have faced in decades.”

The University of Birmingham “saw total revenues increase by £37.1m (up 5% on last year) and we once again generated a £58.5m surplus (£60.0m last year).”

“Whether it be our deferred wages in the form of our pensions, or our actual wages and salaries, universities are profiteering from the financial hardship and excessive overwork of our members.”

Second year Politics and International Relations student Eleanor Falshaw was at the Birmingham rally. She told The Tab Birmingham: “University management will do their best to pit students against staff, but we have to remember that we are fighting the same struggles against the marketisation of education and the greed of university management.

“Throughout and beyond Covid, staff continue to work hard to ensure we receive high quality teaching. They deserve pay, pensions and conditions that reflect this, not a real-terms pay cut of 25% since 2009. I’d urge all students not to cross picket lines by not to going to lectures when staff are on strike and to support staff on picket lines.”

A University of Birmingham spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that UCU are balloting for strike action which will impact both students and colleagues. We recognise that staff are feeling the effect of the cost of living crisis and have already increased pay above the national position for all of our staff groups. Constructive discussions have already led to beneficial outcomes for support staff, and we would call for ongoing engagement with UCU rather than industrial action which is disruptive for all of our university community.”

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