Do you think lecturers are right to strike?

Poll

Do you think lecturers are right to strike and cancel lectures?

Uni staff are planning strikes over changes to the pension scheme.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/22/uk-universities-face-disruption-staff-back-industrial-action

Are they doing the right thing or is this too extreme and costly to students.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Harjot

When students are paying money to be educated, and they aren't being educated, liability must be held somewhere, it's surely a contractual violation?

Reply 2

Magdatrix >_<

The thing is, in a lot of cases, teaching staff will end up re-scheduling lectures etc...so students still get the lecture, just on a different day.

Reply 3

PhoenixFortune

I totally respect my lecturers' right to strike, but that doesn't mean that I have to be happy about lectures being rescheduled.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 4

Notoriety

Certainly. Uni students have not been in real pension-pot employment, so they are slightly myopic in their understanding of their lecturers' positions.

Everyone should have the right to strike to protect their conditions of employment.

Reply 5

gjd800

See how you feel when your eventual employer wants to take up to 10k a year off your pension.

Reply 6

Skment

Original post by Magdatrix >_<

The thing is, in a lot of cases, teaching staff will end up re-scheduling lectures etc...so students still get the lecture, just on a different day.

Well, definitely not at UCL. We've been told that the strike would have no meaning if they would eventually substitute the lectures and seminars. So for me as an international student this will mean paying tuition and accommodation in London just for kicks.

Students are held as a hostage in a row we have nothing to do with.

Reply 7

gjd800

Yes, withdrawal of labour needs to be exactly that - withdrawal. Not rejigging or moving. Inconvenience is the point - direct your anger tpward the PVCs and the USS. Nobody wants to go on strike.

Reply 8

Skment

How about they find a different way to give their employers a hard time without affecting students? At the end of the day, it's the UCU who initiated the strike, not PVCs or USS...

Reply 9

1secondsofvamps

Its funny how some of the people who complain are the same people who dont bother turning up to lectures/leave halfway through

Reply 10

Sceptical_John

The poll is quite even so far.

As someone who is a student and works in education, I'm trying to see things from both sides. Part of me wishes there was something that the union could have done before getting to the stage of strikes. Like stopping all admin/office hours... but then I'm aware it takes drastic action for anyone to listen.

This is an interesting blog on how the problem arose...

https://medium.com/@mikeotsuka/oxfords-and-cambridge-s-role-in-the-demise-of-uss-a3034b62c033

Reply 11

LegallyMinded

My university is striking. I study law and have around 10 lectures and 5 seminars each week.

All 5 of my seminar leaders are striking and around half of the lecturers. The university sent me an email from the law school stating that lectures will not be rescheduled and seminars will just be mised.

I see this as a complete misconduct, but I also feel bad for the lecturers and seminar leaders at my university and therefore I am torn. Do I want to claim back the tuition I have lost out on? of course I do, but I know I probably will not be able to.

Reply 12

CTLeafez

Original post by Muttski

My university is striking. I study law and have around 10 lectures and 5 seminars each week.

Law students is probably one of the worse courses to pee-off. I'm sure you guys would all band together and file a breach of contract lawsuit :biggrin:

Reply 13

LegallyMinded

Original post by CTLevers

Law students is probably one of the worse courses to pee-off. I'm sure you guys would all band together and file a breach of contract lawsuit :biggrin:

There is a clear breach of contract here, in fact two of my seminar leaders told us directly that this strike will result in them breaching their contracts and so cannot tell the university directly whether or not they're striking.

If we did file a claim... the law clinic at our university would side with the university unfortunately :wink:

Reply 14

CTLeafez

Original post by Muttski

If we did file a claim... the law clinic at our university would side with the university unfortunately :wink:

Tbf I guess the law lecturers probably know what they're doing too... I'd say good luck. Fortunately my uni isn't striking (as far as I know...)

Reply 15

username853993

I think they should be allowed to strike but then students should be eligible for refund for any contact hours missed

Reply 16

gjd800

Original post by Skment

How about they find a different way to give their employers a hard time without affecting students? At the end of the day, it's the UCU who initiated the strike, not PVCs or USS...

How do you suppose that teaching staff might withdraw their labour? What might teaching staff stop doing in order to strike? The answer is incredibly simple.

Reply 17

gjd800

Original post by madmadmax321

I think they should be allowed to strike but then students should be eligible for refund for any contact hours missed

I don't see a problem with that notion - no skin off the teaching staff's nose if you get some of your money back!

Reply 18

BlackBowmore

Original post by Notoriety

Speak for yourself. I returned to study after 30 years in industry. My pension was reformed, ie made prospectively less valuable several times. The same is proposed here (ie benefits accrued to date aren't changed).

The UCU PR selectively compares someone with a full career on past generous terms with someone starting out now on less generous terms. Any of the people striking now will have past accruals so are not in the position of extreme case put out by the UCU.

Rather than threaten to damage the interests of people who had no part in the grievance like the threat to students here, I negotiated with the employer (a FTSE top 10 corporation) having developed support within the staff. We secured a compromise now written into the pension's governing trust document that reduced the effect of that company's opening position.

The precedent was repeated in a subsequent change where a DB element was retained after an initial proposal to scrap it, albeit at greater cost to members.

The UCU are less forthcoming about counter proposals - the position currently put forward is that nothing should change for any present or future member. The pension scheme has one of the largest deficits of any scheme at £17 billion. To explain the severity of this £1bn was sufficient to bankrupt Carillion last month.

The UCU would be baying the loudest if the scheme were to be unable to meet its obligations and pay pensions in the future, a position that becomes more likely as time goes by (the deficit has grown substantially in past years despite sector leading 10% investment returns on investments).

I'm afraid that on its face the current position is about maximising the benefits of current staff at serious risk to the benefits of future retirees. Scheme management have to take a more balanced view that all future retirees interests should also carry weight.

If the UCU are up for it, what are the constructive alternatives and compromises that would work for you?

You certainly aren't looking the more reasonable party right now.