The University and College Union (UCU) has announced further strike action commencing 21 March.
The University of Glasgow, along with 68 other UK universities, is to be affected by further strike action this semester. This is commencing with five days of action from 21 March to 25 March, in which 39 universities will participate. The following week, staff at 29 universities will strike from 28 March to 1 April.
This week’s action follows 10 days of strike action which took place throughout February 2022, as the trade union continues to campaign for their ‘Four Fights’ of pay, workload, equality, and casualisation.
The UCU general secretary Jo Grady stated: “Vice-chancellors could easily end this dispute and prevent further disruption in our universities, but they would rather attack the pensions, pay and working conditions of their own staff and damage the sector at the same time.
“Students and staff alike deserve better leadership than this, and we hope that this action and our re-ballot of members for future action will make employers see sense.”
On 16 March 2022, the University of Glasgow’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor David Duncan emailed students in response to the national UCU industrial action update. In contrast to the sentiment expressed by the UCU, he remarked that “while we deeply regret any impact the UCU’s action may have on students and colleagues at the University, the industrial action is part of a national dispute and cannot be resolved locally. However, we continue to engage constructively with local UCU reps and to support further talks at a national level with the aim of finding a mutually acceptable way forward.”
In his email, he notes that UofG campuses – including all learning and sports facilities - will remain open throughout this period. Additionally, he states that exams and assessments set for the upcoming end of the semester will be taking place as scheduled.
For UofG’s Frequently Asked Questions webpage on industrial action, please click here. Further information on the University and College Union can be found on their website here.
