Staff will take two further days of strike action at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Birkbeck, University of London, this week over a range of issues including pay and pensions, UNISON says.
Workers represented by UNISON at both institutions voted to strike after a pay offer of 1.5%, and will continue their industrial action after their employers failed to significantly improve their offer. With inflation this year already at 5.5%, this currently represents a significant real terms pay cut.
In addition, staff at SOAS are striking over changes to their pension, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). Under the employer’s current proposal, staff face increases to their contributions and large cuts to their guaranteed benefits.
Staff at both institutions will be on strike on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 March.
Steven Ellis, a librarian at Birkbeck and UNISON branch chair said: “Staff have worked so hard during the pandemic, adapting to difficult circumstances to keep the university running and ensuring students could still complete their degrees.
“With living costs across London spiralling, staff need and deserve a far better pay offer than the one on offer.”
Sandy Nicoll, an IT administrator and UNISON branch secretary at SOAS said: “Making ends meet during a cost of living crisis is bad enough, but staff are also deeply concerned about the future of their pensions.
“USS pension benefits need to be preserved – the scheme must be affordable so all staff can save for a decent retirement. The employers need to rethink their proposals, which simply aren’t good enough.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is working closely with UCU (University and College Union) throughout the strike period.
– Staff at SOAS and Birkbeck have already held five days of strike action during February and March.
– The latest Consumer Prices Index(CPI) statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show a 5.5% increase over the 12 month period preceding January 2022.
– Staff at both institutions will be on strike on Thursday 24 March and Friday 25 March.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contact:
Nathan Burns M: 07813 722747 E: n.burns@unison.co.uk