Statement on progress in negotiations and postponement of strike action
Birkbeck welcomes the announcement that significant progress has been made in negotiations and that national strike action by the University and College Union (UCU) and Unison has been called off.
We welcome the announcement that significant progress has been made in negotiations between our recognised Trades Unions and the Universities and Colleges Employer Association (UCEA) over pay and working conditions, and that national strike action by the University and College Union (UCU) and Unison has been called off on Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, Monday 27, and Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 March to allow for ongoing negotiations to continue in a constructive environment.
We also welcome the interim joint statement from UCU and Universities UK with respect to the Universities Superannuation Scheme, and the commitment to work together so that current and future valuations of the scheme are undertaken on a moderately prudent and evidence-based basis, taking account of the open and long-term nature of the scheme.
Birkbeck hopes these statements enable an agreed settlement to be reached on these issues and end an extended period of recurrent industrial action across the sector. We are particularly pleased that the agreed statement on the USS pension scheme marks a move to a position that aligns with that which the College has advocated, often as a lonely voice, for consensus.
At a time when students and staff alike are experiencing cost-of-living pressures and the education system is still recovering from the disruption of Covid, we must all hope that there is no resumption of disruptive industrial action and that a settlement on these issues is reached.