04/02/2020

Further Strike Action At NI Universities

Lecturers and support staff at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University are set to take further strike action.

University and College Union (UCU) members will take a further 14 days throughout February and March due to ongoing disputes over pay, workloads and pensions.

The action comes after staff walked out for eight days in November and December of last year.

Some 583 members of staff at Ulster University are members of the union and another 933 at Queen's University Belfast.

The UK-wide action affects another 70 universities.

UCU has warned it will continue to ballot members after this wave of strikes if the dispute can not be resolved.

As well as the strike days, union members are undertaking "action short of a strike" practices. These involve things like working strictly to contract, not covering for absent colleagues and refusing to reschedule lectures lost to strike action.

UCU General Secretary Jo Grady said: "We have seen more members back strikes since the winter walkouts and this next wave of action will affect even more universities and students. If universities want to avoid further disruption they need to deal with rising pension costs, and address the problems over pay and conditions.

"We have been clear from the outset that we would take serious and sustained industrial action if that was what was needed. As well as the strikes next month, we are going to ballot members to ensure that we have a fresh mandate for further action to cover the rest of the academic year if these disputes are not resolved."

Strike days are planned for the following dates:

• Thursday 20 & Friday 21 February

• Monday 24, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February

• Monday 02, Tuesday 03, Wednesday 04 & Thursday 05 March

• The entire week beginning Monday 09 March.



(JG/CM)

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