City Students’ Union Stance on UCU USS Strike

We are glad to announce that last night at the Student Members meeting, City students have voted in support of encouraging the University and UCU to continue discussions to prevent further actions being taken and for a reasonable solution to be found as soon as possible to minimise the negative impact on the student experience.

Dear Students,

We are glad to announce that last night at the Student Members meeting, City students have voted in support of encouraging the University and UCU to continue discussions to prevent further actions being taken and for a reasonable solution to be found as soon as possible to minimise the negative impact on the student experience.

As you probably know, the University and College Union (UCU) has voted both on a national and local levels to strike over the Universities UK proposal to reform the USS Pension Scheme which will result in substantial cuts in USS (Universities Superannuation Scheme) members’ pensions.

The strike is scheduled to take place over the following 14 days:

First week: 22nd  Feb – 23rd  Feb (2 days);

Second week: 26th  – 28th  Feb (3 days);

Third week: 5th  – 8th  March (4 days);

Fourth week: 12th  – 16th  March (5 days).

City UCU represents University lecturers, researchers and professional staff in administrative, library and computing services as well as some postgraduate research students who undertake teaching activities at City. Negotiations have been ongoing to resolve this situation, however they have not succeeded at finding a compromise or solution.

The Union believes that fairly rewarded staff are the cornerstone of the university experience and all staff at City should have access to a range of benefits including a good pension scheme. City SU and UCU are both committed to promoting the interests of our members, to defending education and challenging the marketisation of education. The imposition of the proposed pension cuts in the face of sector wide opposition might lead to a demotivated and unhappy workforce and consequent recruitment and retention problems.

You can find out more about the strike and how to support your staff members at: www.nus.org.uk/en/news/supporting-the-ucu-strike-as-a-student/  and www.ucu.org.uk/student-uss-information

Also, UCU is organising a drop-in session for students for questions from students about the strike on Monday 19th February from 5 to 6 pm at BLG07. Come along and support your staff!

Yours truly,

Olesea Matcovschi

President

Malek Arab

Vice President Education

Zulkaif Riaz

Vice President Activities & Development

 

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