Solidarity

Messages of support for our industrial action have been coming in over the past few days. We’ll be using this page to collect them together. Send in your messages to cucusec@hermes.cam.ac.uk 

From Unite London and Eastern Education RISC

Unite London and Eastern Education RISC, alongside Unite Cambridge University branch, fully supports the industrial action that UCU is taking in relation to the 2019-2020 JNCHES pay claim, and USS pensions

The Education RISC fully supports UCU in continuing to pursue a fair pay rise for staff in Higher Education and we regret that Unite members working in the sector, despite voting overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, have been frustrated in taking action by the monstrous and horrendous anti-trade union laws imposed by the Tory government. Otherwise, we would be standing shoulder to shoulder with our brother and sisters in UCU in their actions. Unite Education RISC believes that we can be much more effective in having our demands met by university bosses through joint union action

In relation to the USS pensions dispute the RISC believes that the initial proposals from the employers and USS to effectively convert the USS scheme from a defined benefit to a defined contribution scheme was an outrageous attack on staff pensions and we are pleased to see UCU action is causing Universities UK and USS to change these proposals. We understand that talks are ongoing at the national level to resolve this dispute and we wish our UCU colleagues’ success in their action commencing on Thursday 20th February 2020.

From Pete Monaghan, Cambridge Trades Council and Cambridge Regional College UCU

On behalf of UCU members at Cambridge Regional College and trade union members across Cambridge l send solidarity and thanks for your strike action today and for the remainder of your strike action. It is also fantastic to see the linking of this industrial action with the climate action of XR this week. We need to understand our common opponents of those who choose to put profit and dividends before the planet & people. Solidarity Pete Monaghan on behalf of CRC UCU & Cambridge Trades Council.

From Lect_s en Lutte

We are writing to you from the group Lect_s en Lutte to express our solidarity with your ongoing mobilisation for fair pay, decent working conditions and a fair and representative pensions programme Good luck with the strike! 

Lect_s en Lutte is a group of casualised teaching staff from universities across Paris that has come together to organise our approach to the ongoing social movement in France. Since December 5 2019, those of us who have been able to strike have been doing so while those of us who are more precarious have chosen to teach about the social movement during class time. Workers from all industries are facing an immense threat from the French government’s proposed pension reform that would leave everyone worse off – particularly women, minorities and teaching staff. Universities are facing a specific threat from the proposed LPPR law which would greatly increase the precarity of an academic career and raises concerns about freedom of research. 

We believe that we are in a common struggle with you against the neoliberalisation of universities and against the increasing precarity of university teaching staff. Therefore, we commit to raising awareness of the UCU movement across British universities on the picket and as part of our teach ins. Please let us know if we can help you any further in your struggle.

Solidarity from Paris!