What do students at the University of Birmingham think about the strikes?

Earlier this month the Universities and College Union (UCU) announced that all universities in the country, apart from three, will be striking for three days in November. The reason for the strikes are due to university staff wanting higher pay and their pensions back.

This year isn’t the first time UoB students will be affected by strikes, after 18 days of strikes last year alone. Students can have strong opinions about these strikes, either in support or opposed, so The Tab Birmingham asked UoB students what they thought of the strikes.

Gracie

Gracie told The Birmingham Tab how although she is “gutted to be missing learning” she is still “rooting for the union’s demands to be met”. Gracie said she believes “student and staff solidarity is important” and that it is “the fault of the universities, not the striking staff” as to why we will be missing lectures and learning for three days.

Louie

Louie said how “practically, it’s a huge pain” but tole The Birmingham Tab that he “support[s] strike action out of principle”.

Katy

Katy told The Birmingham Tab how we should “be angry at the uni, not the lecturers [who are] striking”.

Mikey

Many people know that the reason university staff are striking is due to cuts to their pensions and Mikey told The Birmingham Tab how the “savage cuts to pensions” were “entirely unjustified”. And for this reason “staff deserve full solidarity”.

Haider

Haider told The Birmingham Tab how “[he] feels bad for those losing contact hours [that] they have paid for”.

Anonymous

A UoB student told The Birmingham Tab how they have “complete solidarity with lecturers going on strike” as “they’ve had such shit treatment”.

Jack

Jack simply told The Birmingham Tab that strikes are “proper shit”.

Kianne

Kianne told The Birmingham Tab how she finds the strikes “awful” because she was planning on “catching up on [her] seminars this week, but now they are all cancelled”.

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