There will be another week of strikes at Edinburgh Uni starting on 21 March

The UCU have announced five more days of strike action, from Monday 21st March until Friday 25th March.

Edinburgh University, Heriot-Watt, Napier and Queen Margaret are all participating.

All four of the universities in Edinburgh have voted to strike over pay and working conditions, however Edinburgh Uni and Heriot-Watt have voted to also strike over pensions.

This new industrial action comes after 10 days of strike action that took place in February and March.

During the strikes participating staff members will not be giving their regular classes or lectures on those dates, and these will not be rescheduled for later. However, not all staff are UCU members so some classes and lectures will still take place as normal.

Our A to Z guide on the UCU strikes can be found here.

Announcing the new wave of strikes, the UCU said: “Staff at the 68 universities just finished taking up to 10 days of strike action this week but after employers forced through pension cuts and refused to negotiate meaningfully over pay and working conditions, further action has now been called.

“On 22 February, university employers forced through pension cuts which will see 35 per cent slashed from a typical member’s guaranteed retirement income. UCU is demanding that employers revoke their cuts and re-enter negotiations.  In the pay and working conditions dispute the union is demanding an end to race, gender and disability pay injustice; a framework to eliminate zero-hours and other insecure contracts; and meaningful action to tackle unmanageable workloads; as well as a £2.5k pay rise for all university employees.”

Recommended related articles by this writer:

• From ASOS to Zoom pickets: Everything you need to know about the strikes

• Breaking: 10 days of strike action at Edinburgh Uni will take place in February

• Lecturers at Napier and Queen Margaret join UCU strike over pay and conditions

Featured image credit: UCU Edinburgh