Imperial lecturers can't strike
Imperial academics will be absent from a nationwide pay dispute strike on 7 March. Imperial College AUT (Association of University Teachers) members are legally forbidden from taking part in the strike due to a prior agreement with College.
A central London rally is being planned for the day of the strike. Mary Symons, AUT President at Imperial, encouraged Imperial members to support their colleagues, however she stated in an email to College members, "It is important that we ensure that we leave work under the correct conditions, as we cannot withdraw our labour at Imperial to attend the rally because we are not eligible to strike."
The AUT claims that academic pay has declined by 40% in relative terms in the last 20 years and that unions want pay brought into line with equivalent professionals.
With the introduction of top-up fees and Education Secretary Ruth Kelly promising £6.5bn for universities next year, it seems that universities should now be able to pay a fair salary. Indeed the AUT says that their claim, for a 20% pay increase, is fully costed and affordable. The AUT claims that despite having first approached employers in September, they have not received any pay offer.
A recent survey by the TUC (Trade Union Conference) has shown that lecturers do an average of nine hours unpaid work per week, worth over £10,000 a year.
After the strikes academics will boycott all assessments including marking students' exams and course work. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association claim that the union's aim "Is to create needless disruption" and that the action is designed to disrupt universities' main exam season.
All this comes as the Faculty of Life Sciences has confirmed plans that will cut 35 technical jobs. The cuts will apparently save the faculty £1.85m, and are a response to the faculty's growing deficit of over £12m. One member of staff told Felix that "support for research staff and students will be slashed...work done by four members of staff will now be left to one." Concerns have also been raised that with fewer support staff the faculty will no longer be able to compete for vital contracts.
College has stated that not all 35 staff will be made redundant, and efforts will be made to reallocate some staff to new roles. They also state that the cuts will increase the efficiency of the faculty and believe that the restructuring will improve the quality of teaching and research.
