If you’re a student at one of the country’s older universities, then you’ve probably heard about the upcoming University and College Union (UCU) lecturer strike, in protest against Universities UK’s proposed changes to lecturers’ pensions. And if this means you’re going to miss out on precious contact hours, it is very easy to be upset by this.
You may wonder why you’re being dragged into it. After all, this is a dispute between the lecturers and university management. Yet the strikes seem to affect us the most, with the cancellation of lectures we pay £9,250 a year for. And we have little stake or influence on the University Superannuation Scheme’s (USS) pension fund, for that matter.
But it’s worth being patient with the strikes. There are many reasons why we students should back our lecturers.
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It’s not our lecturers we should be angry at
Since 2009, lecturers’ real wages have fallen by 16% and, under the proposed changes to the USS by Universities UK, they stand to lose an estimated £10,000 per year upon receiving their pensions. Meanwhile, vice-chancellors and senior managers enjoy ever-growing salaries – indicating that perhaps universities could afford to offer academic staff more stability if they wanted to.
Universities are places for collaboration between teachers and students – and for this, solidarity is vital. We ought to direct our anger at university management, rather than our colleagues.
The quality of higher education is at stake
A fall in real wages and the proposed USS changes will leave lecturers anxious for their futures. Early career academics have it bad enough already, with low pay and little job security. And when academic staff are demoralised, everyone loses out.
Many students choose a career within academia, so the proposed USS changes stand to affect the lecturers of tomorrow. Members of the USS already have worse benefits than school teachers within the Teacher’s Pension Scheme – itself only a modestly rewarding scheme. Academia could become an unappealing profession and lose talent if the assault on wages and pensions continues.
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It sets a dangerous precedent for all public pension schemes
Not only should students with dreams of academia support the strike. 17% of those who work in the UK are in the public sector, according to a September 2017 report by the Office of National Statistics. And the proposed changes by Universities UK could set a dangerous precedent.
The debate about pensions extends wider than to just lecturers: an unsuccessful strike by the UCU in getting Universities UK back to the negotiating table would mandate similar and subsequent attacks on other professions and their pensions, especially in the public sector – and likely elsewhere too. In other words, a failed strike probably wouldn’t affect only our academic friends and teachers. It could have a knock-on effect on all of our futures.
How students can support the strikes:
Avoid attending lectures during the strike.
Get in touch with your university’s UCU office and join your lecturers on the picket lines – they can always do with more numbers.
Write/email your university’s vice-chancellor asking for a refund of the lectures you have missed due to the strikes. Under the increasing marketisation of universities, you have paid for a service that has not been delivered to you.
Talk to your friends and spread the word – the strikes will only be successful if we get behind them, cause a headache for the university management, and force them to address the issue. Only then can we prevent the increasing squeeze on academics and higher education.
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