University of Nottingham staff gathered at Jubilee Campus on Friday morning for the third consecutive day of striking over cuts to their pay and pensions.
Employees at 58 universities across the UK have walked out after bosses and their representatives have refused to address and resolve these issues.
Nottingham East Labour MP, Nadia Whittome joined staff at the protest.
She said: “It’s absolutely right that university staff are striking and have been since Wednesday.
“They shouldn’t have to strike – management should get round the table with them and negotiate a proper deal.
“Working conditions for staff are learning conditions for students – so it’s in the interests of students to also support this strike.”
University staff face a 35% cut to guaranteed pensions, their pay is down 20% in real terms in 12 years and a third of academic staff are on insecure contracts.
Solidarity to @UoNUCU & @ucu branches across the country on strike today! ✊🏽#OneOfUsAllOfUs
— Nadia Whittome MP (@NadiaWhittomeMP) December 1, 2021
Staff pay has fallen by 20 per cent after 12 years of below-inflation pay offers, while almost 90,000 academic-related staff are employed on insecure contracts.
The UCU is demanding a £2.5k pay increase for all staff, as well as action to tackle unmanageable workloads, pay inequality staff’s contracts.
This wave of strikes is the third since February 2018, and more have been threatened in the new year if employers continue to ignore staff demands.
Agnes Flues, President of the University of Nottingham UCU branch said: “It’s frustrating that we have to be here again, fighting for fair pay and decent working conditions.
“The focus is always around how our actions are unfair to students, and I completely agree that the last 18 months have been difficult for them, but ultimately it’s employers that have left us with no choice but to take these measures.”
Research by the National Union of Students shows 73% of students support university staff taking strike action.
UCU General Secretary, Jo Grady added: “We are grateful to all the students who are supporting staff taking industrial action because they understand that staff working conditions are student learning conditions.
“Vice-chancellors now need to concentrate on asking themselves why strikes have become an annual occurrence and seek to resolve this dispute in order to avoid more needless disruption to learning.
“If they continue to ignore the modest demands of staff then we will be forced to take further industrial action in the new year, which even more branches will join.”
