More Lecturers Strikes on the Way?
After the threatened strike action at Imperial was called off a few weeks ago over the issue of London weighting, more strike action from the AUT could be imminent.
This time it looks likely to occur at a national level, and not just in London, and concerns a dispute over pay increases over the next two years.
The AUT claim that wages have slipped by 40% in real terms over the past 20 years, and that action is needed to arrest this slide. The increases planned for the next two years will keep wages constant in real terms – they are going to increase at a level very close to the rate of inflation – whereas university funding has increased by at least 5% in real terms over the past couple of years.
AUT members are going to be balloted in December over whether or not they wish to take action, giving Universities time to respond to their arguments.
It is unclear as to whether these strikes are being contemplated now due to the buckling of London universities over the issue of London weighting after the strikes at the start of the academic year.
