University staff and civil servants will strike on Tuesday as the wave of union action continues to sweep the UK.
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) and the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will set up picket lines outside universities and the British Museum in disputes over pay, pensions and working conditions.
More than 70,000 UCU members will begin this week the first of three consecutive days of strike action across 150 UK universities, threatening to disrupt students’ lectures and seminars.
About 100 members of the British Museum’s PCS union who work in visitor services and security teams went on strike throughout the week as part of a dispute over wages, pensions, terms of employment and job security.
The UCU confirmed on Monday night that it will re-vote its members to allow university workers to take further industrial action for the rest of the academic year if their demands are not met by employers.
The announcement came as UCU, through the mediation service Acas, entered into discussions with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which represents 144 employers.
The UCEA made a wage proposal of between 5% and 8%, which was rejected by the union.
Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “Staff are on strike because they are tired of not getting a decent pay rise, steady job and good pensions.
“And students are behind us because they know that the working conditions of the staff are their conditions of learning.
“Our union is determined to reach a negotiated settlement that will allow staff to return to work and students to continue their studies undisturbed.
“But that can only happen if vice-chancellors come out of hiding and use a fraction of the industry’s vast wealth to make serious, well-rounded offers to the workforce.”
UCEA CEO Raj Jethwa said: “It is disappointing that UCU has confirmed that it will vote again on the day these Acas talks started.
“It is saddening if even a single student is affected by the 18-day strike that UCU has already asked its member to do, and we hope these Acas talks will help resolve this dispute.”
The staff are on strike because they are tired of getting a decent pay raise, a steady job and a decent pension
UCU general secretary Jo Grady
PCS members are also on strike this week at the Work and Pensions Department, DVLA and the Animal and Plant Health Department.
They will be joined by Border Force personnel in Dover, Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk on Friday.
PCS General Secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: “Our hard-working members regret taking this action during the holidays as their working life is dedicated to sharing information with people, especially young people learning about the exhibitions and artifacts in the British Museum.
“That they are taking this action shows how much they feel taken for granted by the government. The prime minister has the power to end this strike tomorrow, but he is nowhere to be seen.”
TUC Secretary-General Paul Nowak, who will take part in a picket line at the British Museum on Tuesday, said: “Nobody makes the decision to strike lightly. But the Conservative government is pushing workers like these museum staff into a corner by refusing to engage in serious wage negotiations.
“We all want these pay disputes resolved quickly. And that can happen if the chancellor and prime minister do the right thing and come to the negotiating table with credible wage offers.
“Until then, unions will stand their ground because we know decent wage increases are possible — it comes down to political choices.”
The National Education Union (NEU) had planned to strike in Welsh schools on Tuesday, but the strike was suspended last week after the Welsh government made a new wage offer.
Education union leaders will meet Education Secretary Gillian Keegan on Wednesday in a bid to resolve a pay dispute that threatens to trigger further strikes in schools across England in February and March.
