Breaking news: Cardiff University will face a lecture strike for three days this month

Cardiff University will be striking this month as staff are campaigning for better pay and pensions, amongst other things.

Last month, the Universities and College Union (UCU) won in a bid for industrial action, over 70,000 university staff across 140 unis took part in the vote.

It is said lecturers across the UK will be striking on November 24th, 25th, and 30th this month.

The union is demanding “a meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis and action to end the use of insecure contracts”.

2.5 million students could be impacted nationally in what is expected to be the largest ever strike in the sector.

It follows numerous staff walkouts over several years, as talks with senior university figures have failed to reach a conclusion on members’ demands. The UCU says the fresh round of action can be avoided if employers put improved offers on the table.

The category of staff not just includes lecturers but also covers the conditions of Cardiff’s Postgraduate Research Students who teach, so part of the strike will be supporting fairer contracts for these students.

The UCU’s General Secretary, Jo Grady, says: “This is not a dispute about affordability – it is about choices. Vice-chancellors are choosing to pay themselves hundreds of thousands of pounds whilst forcing our members onto low paid and insecure contracts that leave some using foodbank.”

The UCU stated in a Tweet today: “We are going to deliver the biggest picket lines ever seen in higher education.

“And we need every single one of you to play your part.

“Add these dates to your diaries.#ucuRISING”

Cardiff Student Union also stated: “We recognise that many of our members are paying tuition fees of £9k+ and as per the 2021 AGM motion, we will be lobbying the University for fee reimbursements for any lost contact hours owing to Industrial Action.”

Here’s what Cardiff Uni Students had to say about the strikes at Cardiff Uni:

Sophia – Second year, English Lit

“I don’t know if I missed an email but it seems like we weren’t given much warning. It’s not the end of the world for me because I don’t have many contact hours but I’d appreciate the heads up”

Alice – Second year, Journalism and Communications

“I hope the staff get treated better because that is essential, but I would like to have found out from the uni, not social media.”

Anonymous – Third Year, Journalism, Media and Communications

“Our year group in particular has been through enough with a lack of proper teaching, and missing out on our university experience, we don’t need strikes on top of all of that as well”

Students are able to have their say on the motion, there will be a meeting on the 24th November with regards to if the Cardiff Student Union will support the strike. However, in the mean time the student union “stand in solidarity with the UCU and support Insdustrial Action.” The full statement from the SU is available here, alongside the information about the meeting.

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: “We have received notification of industrial action in relation to UK wide disputes over pay and pensions. During industrial action, our priority will be to provide education for our students and we apologise for any inconvenience this will cause. We can assure students that we will do everything possible to minimise the disruption to their studies and, as agreed in our joint statement with Cardiff UCU, we will continue to use our position as a member of UUK to work actively to resolve the pension issue.”

Pay is negotiated nationally by UCEA on behalf of all UK universities. Cardiff University staff have already received an uplift of 3 per cent (in some cases more) in their pay from the 1^st  August 2022.

In response to current financial challenges (and the pandemic) a number of one-off (pro-rata) payments have been made to Cardiff University staff.

• £500 one-off cost-of-living payment (made in November 2022) One-off cost of living payment – Intranet – Cardiff University
• £750 one-off Covid thank you payment (made in July 2022) Graduation, National Student Survey, one-off COVID-19 thank you payment – University Executive Board – Cardiff University
•  £250 payment was also made in July 2021 in recognition of the extraordinary and selfless efforts of colleagues across the University during the pandemic: Covid restrictions, supporting our students, thank you to staff – University Executive Board – Cardiff University

Related articles recommended by this writer:

Welsh university staff could go on strike over pay and pensions this academic year

‘My joy did not reflect that of my family’: Indian Cardiff Uni students on Rishi Sunak as PM

Cardiff has ranked as the 11th safest city in the UK for a night out