Recently, Staff at 64 universities are out on strike these next few months. There has been disruption across all campuses in the UK due to dispute over pensions, as lecturers have halted their teaching in order to protest along with the other members of the UCU, universities and college union. The UCU claim that the changes proposed to the pensions could cost staff about £10,000 a year during retirement. The University Superannuation scheme basically changes the old “defined benefit scheme”- which gives staff a guaranteed retirement income” into a new, but more uncertain plan called the “defined contribution scheme”, in which their pensions would follow the changes in the stock market. This has caused issues with many staff and the UCU as the idea of their hard-earned money balancing on the constantly teetering stock market is quite disapproved off, plus there is still the uncertainty of how things may change due to the UK in the midst of leaving the EU.
These protests have affected over 80,000 students across the UK, these strikes will cause cancelled lectures and therefore lost in hours of learning which many students have a positive and negative take with this. Although many students do support their lectures, students also want their time back, or their tuition fees back. Due to recent strikes, students have been petitioning to get paid compensation for lost hours of tuition. Students from England are entitled to receive their compensation money back by filing in the consumer law.
"I am absolutely entitled to try and get the money back," -Georgia Davis
As of right now, the UUK and the UCU are not in the stage of any compromise, either side accusing each other of false information which the UUK say is “inaccurate and misleading”.
