Strike triggers marking boycott
Lecturers up and down the country took strike action this week over continued pay disputes. A national rally took place on Tuesday at Westminster with fewer than 100 lecturers in attendance. Despite the low turnout, the event was hailed as a big success by the unions, who are pushing for a 20% pay increase.
The strike action has caused considerable concern amongst students, with fears that final year students will not be able to graduate due to the disruption. The Association of University Teachers is boycotting the future marking and setting of examinations until a deal can be struck over salaries. Imperial College examinations are set to continue as normal as lecturers here are banned from the strike due to a legally binding contract with College.
Nat Fletcher, President of the NUS, is firmly behind the strike action and in full support of the proposed 20% pay increase; the same cannot be said for all NUS affiliated unions, with Bristol, Leicester and Coventry speaking out about the decision. Amarachi Uzowuru, President of Coventry Students Union, said: "We support the AUT and Natfhe's claims for better lecturers' pay nationally. However, we strongly condemn the AUT and Natfhe's method of targeting students' lectures and assessments before the exam period to make their views heard with their employers."
Not surprisingly, the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (Ucea) are also critical over the move. They wrote to the two unions last week asking them to delay strike action, but to no avail; later they criticised the AUT for using students as political pawns. Jocelyn Prudence, Ucea's Chief Executive, played down the impact of the strike: "In many higher education institutions there has been no action whatsoever and students have crossed picket lines, with many voicing their concerns over the unions' premature strike action - in particular plans to boycott assessment and marking. The variable numbers of academic staff striking today suggests that the AUT's assessment of levels of support is over-optimistic. It is too early to gauge the full impact of today's strike, but we are extremely disappointed that the AUT and Natfhe have chosen industrial action prior to negotiations."
Boris Johnson, Shadow Higher Education Minister, also had his say about the issue. He praised the striking unions but said it was unfair to expect taxpayers to foot the bill. "It is unfortunate that students are being unfairly penalised by the current strike action, but I congratulate the AUT and Natfhe for their belated recognition that the best longterm hope for sustainable funding of higher education is some form of co-payment mechanism," he added.
