1. What is a strike?
2. Why are university workers going on strike?
3. What would a strike achieve at Sussex?
4. Why should students support this strike action?
5. Are lecturers paid on strike days anyway?
6. What happens when workers go on strike?
7. What is a picket line and where are they?
8. Neutral spaces or ‘support the strike’ zones?
9. I have a disability and am worried about how the strike will impact me.
(Find accessibility information here.)
10. Should I attend lectures and seminars?
11. What happens if I live on campus, or need to access campus to work or meet with
Friends?
12. How can I support university workers who are striking?
13. Will there be any events I can attend during the strike on campus?
14. UCU & USSU statement of solidarity with disabled students and staff
A strike is a form of industrial action where workers (e.g., cleaners, doctors, lecturers) collectively withdraw their labour in order to disrupt their workplace and force employers to negotiate with them on pay and/or conditions of work; in other words, to achieve a shared goal.
Workers in 60 universities have voted to go on strike. At Sussex there are two interlinked issues on which we are striking: pay, equalities, and casualisation AND the USS pensions dispute. Jo Grady, the Secretary General of UCU has said: “Although these are separate disputes, they speak to a common theme. Over the past decade, the treatment of higher education staff has taken a turn for the worse, and they have witnessed declines in their pay, pensions and working conditions.
Pay in higher education has fallen by more than 15% against RPI since 2009, and attempts by the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) to downplay the scale of this trend confirms just how far it has plummeted. At the same time, staff in higher education face increasingly unreasonable workload demands and insecure employment. A third of academic staff are employed on fixed-term contracts.
The current dispute over USS pensions stems from changes introduced since 2011, which means the average member stands to lose around £240,000 over their lifetime. Last year’s unprecedented strike action stopped plans to scrap defined benefit pensions, but members now face steep rises in their pension contributions – from 8.0% last year to 9.6%, with further increases planned in 2021. This is despite an independent panel of experts concluding that the scheme could continue with a much lower contribution rate.”
Strike action has been central to winning often taken-for-granted worker rights, such as sick pay, the living wage, challenging racist and sexist pay gaps and hiring practices. By taking strike action at Sussex, university workers are sending a clear signal to our employer: come to the table and negotiate meaningfully over inequality, casualisation and the theft of our wages through changes to our pensions.
University workers do not take the decision to strike lightly because we are dedicated to the education of our students. We love what we do. But we are being prevented from bringing our best to the classroom by the exploitative conditions we work in. These are the same conditions which mean you, the students, are in record levels of debt before you even leave university. Campus is increasingly crowded due to the push for higher numbers of students without thought for whether infrastructure is adequate in coping with such increases. Your struggle to gain an education is connected to our struggle in trying to educate you, in conditions that are harmful to us all. Let’s change them!
(This by Rashné Limki is excellent for a deeper explanation.)
No, the University will not pay lecturers when they are on strike. For each day they are on strike, they will lose a day’s pay. This strike will be 8 days long, beginning on 25th November to the 4th of December. There is a hardship fund to support workers who are the most precariously positioned due to structured exploitation within universities. Striking workers who can afford to, will donate into this fund to support their colleagues; this is an example of solidarity which is essential to any collective action.
When workers go on strike, it means they withdraw their labour in order to challenge and transform conditions of exploitation. Workers on strike will not be undertaking their usual duties whatever these may be. This will include teaching, researching, holding office hours, responding to emails, fulfilling administrative tasks, attending committee meetings, and organising or participating in events during strike days. Instead, workers will organise picket lines around the university to disrupt the normal running of the university to ensure our employer listens to our concerns and takes action.
A picket line is where workers and union reps (‘picketers’ or ‘pickets’) stand outside a workplace to tell other people why they are striking. Due to the gradual degradation of worker rights in the UK, an individual picket line is only allowed to be formed of six people and is heavily regulated. Workers on the picket line aim to educate and ask students and other workers not to cross in solidarity with strike action. This contributes to the power of the strike.
Sussex picket lines will be at Falmer main entrance (by the pedestrian crossing), the Sports Centre bus stop, Knights Gate Rd, and the A27 bus stop.
Neutral spaces.
Falmer House and Meeting House are all ‘neutral’ spaces which students should consider using in solidarity, rather than parts of campus where it’s ‘business as usual’. ‘Business as usual’ spaces include classrooms, lecture theatres, offices of staff members, and the Library (apart from the ‘neutral rooms’ described below in the accessibility section). If in doubt, just stick to neutral spaces! (For anyone who lives on campus or needs to access student services, see below.)
UCU and USSU are working together to ensure that any industrial action over the coming weeks supports the needs of disabled people on campus and works against cultures of ableism in Higher Education.
Below you can find accessibility information for Sussex students and staff during the strikes.
Accessible Picket Lines
Sunflower Lanyards
Info on how to obtain these here: TBC
Transportation on campus during strike days
‘Neutral Zones’ and the Library
Accessible teach-outs
As workers on strike we invite our students to express their solidarity by not attending lectures and seminars that might be running. Why would we do this if we care about our students' education? Because the strike is only as powerful as those who participate in it! If we can send a collective signal to our employers that students and workers are joined in the struggle to make our university more equitable and less exploitative, this is good for all of us.
Unfortunately some staff members may not go on strike and may run their seminars or lectures as usual. In this case, we understand that you may need to attend these classes so that you are not marked absent. We would love it if you would boycott classes in solidarity with the strike, but we understand that is a difficult choice to make.
Yes! Please come to them!
Details on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2971718949720607/?notif_t=plan_user_joined¬if_id=1573028214669834
We, members of the University and College Union (UCU) and Sussex Student’s Union (USSU), write in solidarity with disabled students and staff. We recognise that should strike action go ahead, disabled students and staff may be disproportionately affected in relation to professional services, student supporters and any additional educational support. UCU and USSU are working together to ensure that any industrial action over the coming weeks supports the needs of disabled people on campus and works against cultures of ableism in Higher Education.
From support workers who are on precarious zero-hour contracts to stretched professional services, disabled individuals are already supported on shaky grounds. Too often must these individuals write extra e-mails, make extra phone calls, and take extra hours of liaising and additional organising just to ensure their needs are met. Too often are some individuals unable to access buildings, their learning, or support due to able-centred architecture. All of these factors cause disproportionate levels of anxiety and stress, which is detrimental to mental health. Additionally, disabled staff already face low and unequal pay, precarity and casualisation. Their treatment within Higher Education points towards the treatment of disabled students in Higher Education
UCU is taking strike action, then, to address not only unequal pay (including the disability pay gap) but also the casualisation and excessive workloads that disproportionately affect disabled staff and students at the University of Sussex.
A call for solidarity must read not only in words, but in action – we will do our best to make the industrial action accessible and meaningful for disabled staff and students. Together, UCU and USSU provide information about commitments made to accessibility during the strike.
Sussex Students' Union
Sussex UCU
November 2019