University strikes: UCU action paused over seven days

UCU members strike in Leeds

Seven days of strikes by tens of thousands of university staff have been paused.

The planned action during February and early March will no longer go ahead, said the University and College Union (UCU).

The union said it had made "significant progress" across multiple issues during talks with employers.

Pausing walkouts over the next fortnight will enable a "period of calm", Jo Grady of the UCU said.

• Students face disruption as uni strikes begin

• University staff plan 18 new days of strikes

The action had been due to take place on 21, 22, 23, 27 and 28 February and 1 and 2 March.

Planned strikes after these dates, for 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22 March, will still go ahead.

The dispute is over pay and conditions, while some members are also striking over pensions.

Dr Grady, UCU general secretary, said: "To allow our ongoing negotiations to continue in a constructive environment, we have agreed to pause action across our pay and working conditions and USS pensions disputes for the next two weeks and create a period of calm."

The dispute over pensions began more than a decade ago, but was reignited by the revaluation of the pension scheme used by academic staff - the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

The UCU says the valuation - an assessment of how much money a scheme has - was "flawed" because it took place at the start of the pandemic, "when global markets were crashing", and recorded a deficit of £14.1bn.

Changes were introduced which meant pension contributions increased and future benefits were reduced.

According to the UCU, the average member "will lose 35% from their guaranteed future retirement income".

It says the scheme was more recently found to have a surplus of £1.8bn and is demanding that employers restore staff pension benefits.

In a joint statement on Friday, UCU and Universities UK said another valuation for 2023 is "likely to reveal a high probability of being able to improve benefits and reduce contributions".

UCU paused its strike action on the same day.

University staff on strike had been facing 18 days without pay this month and next - until this latest announcement.

Some UCU members said on social media that they would struggle to afford it, but many of those believed the strike action could lead to long-term financial gain.

UCU has a hardship fund for its members on strike.

Students had also been facing 18 days without classes, often after already facing disruption to their learning because of Covid.

When university staff walked out in November over the same dispute, one student told the BBC she felt she was "not getting what [she] paid for".

The National Union of Students (NUS) has previously said it was supporting the strikes because "staff working conditions are students' learning conditions".