Teach Out - Public Lectures in Public Spaces on Wed 23rd March

Support next week's strike at Salford University

On 22nd and 24th March, UCU members will be taking national strike action in defence of jobs, pensions and pay. After two years of negotiations, with no movement from the employer, they feel the time has come to show that they are serious about defending jobs and pensions. We are already seeing mass redundancies at Hope University in Liverpool, and UCU estimates that 40,000 jobs are at risk across the sector. As many as 40 universities are at risk of forced closure. At the same time, the pension funds which are not in deficit are under attack. This is nothing more than a blatant attempt to raise money for the Treasury while the banks continue to profit from the massive bailout we gave them.

We need solidarity between all education workers and students to save education for the future. Staff are the most important resource in any university, we would learn nothing without their expertise and dedication to their students’ education. This action is about more than the fight to protect working conditions in universities, as vital as this is. This is a continuation of the fight to save education started by students last November. Our lecturers supported us then, we must support them now.

What the students began, the workers will finish!

URGENT! SUPPORT STAFF

The Student Union have asked its members to fill in a survey - link here - to register their opinions regarding the upcoming strike action by lecturers. There is also a meeting to advise the members of the student council - who will vote on this issue, not members - at the Students' Union on Thursday 17th March at 5:15 pm. Please fill out the form and attend if possible. YOU HAVE UNTIL 3PM ON THURSDAY - THAT'S TOMORROW - TO FILL OUT THE SURVEY.

Attacks on university staff are indirect attacks on the quality of education received by students, short and long term. It is therefore in students' interests to support staff in their actions to protect their working conditions and those of future academics.

VOTE B IN THE SURVEY:

B. Show a shared concern for members of UCU on the issue of job security and pay and also on the issue of changes to the University Superannuation Scheme and support industrial action on Tuesday 22nd March and Thursday 24th March and issue a statement of support.


Info from the student union: 

Industrial Action on Campus: Tuesday 22 and Thursday 24 March
Earlier on today the Students' Union was informed by The University and Colleges Union, the organisation that represents staff and lecturers at the University, that their members will be taking industrial action and will be going on strike next week on Tuesday 22 March and Thursday 24 March. This means that certain members of university staff will not be turning up to work. This will potentially impact upon students. The Students’ Union’s Student Council will be considering a position paper to determine what stance the Students’ Union should be taking in relation to this strike action. In order to help steer the Student Council’s decision making, we are asking students to let us know what their feelings on the issue are. You can do this very simply by filling in this very brief survey at 
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dFA3N1BDaEI4aE9LNmZMbFRKNXhJTXc6MQ#gid=0
The Student Council will be meeting at the Students' Union on Thursday 17th March at 5:15 pm.  All students are welcome to attend and speak, but only members of council will have voting rights.

Teach-In this Wednesday!

Don't miss this week's teach-in to discuss the links between the cuts to education and to the public sector! As the campaigns to save national assets like the universities, the NHS, public libraries, advice centres, and services for children gather pace, we need to consider the ways in which these issues intersect and the potential for a united campaign against the cuts. 

Come to the teach-in to hear from people involved in local campaigns on how we can beat the cuts.

Maxwell Building

Room 115

Wednesday 16th March

2-5

UCU ballot results

The results of the ballot for strike action by UCU (University and College Union) members is in. 63 universities - including Salford - voted for strike action on the issue of punitive changes to the pension scheme. UCU report below:

UCU today said universities faced rolling industrial action from Monday 21 March if the current row over the future of staff pensions could not be resolved.

UCU members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme at 67 universities were balloted for strike action and action short of a strike. Taken overall, two-thirds (64.55%) of UCU members who voted, voted for strike action and over four-fifths (82.19%) voted for action short of a strike.

Members at institutions that voted for action will be asked to strike against the detrimental proposals from university employers to reduce pension benefits and increase costs even though USS is in robust health. More information on the dispute can be found at: USS changes - key questions

The union said that strike action remained a last resort and called on the employers to join it for urgent talks through the conciliatory service ACAS. However, the union warned that if the dispute was not resolved then negotiators would recommend two weeks' rolling strike action from Monday 21 March, with each individual member taking two days' action.

If the talks fail, this means in effect that universities will be hit with up to two days' industrial action each. Exactly when the action will take place during the two week period will be determined by individual institutions' term dates. The union said it had to act quickly as the employers plan to bring in the changes to the pension scheme on Friday 1 April. 

• The 63 institutions that voted in favour of strike action on the issue of pensions are:
  
  The University of Aberdeen
  Aberystwyth University
  University of Bangor
  University of Bath
  Queen's University of Belfast
  University of London, Birkbeck College
  The University of Birmingham
  University of Bradford
  University of Bristol
  Brunel University
  University of Cambridge
  Cardiff University
  City University
  Courtauld Institute of Art
  Cranfield University
  The University of Dundee
  Durham University
  University of East Anglia
  University of Edinburgh
  University of Essex
  University of Exeter
  The University of Glasgow
  University of London, Goldsmiths
  Heriot-Watt University
  The University of Hull
  Imperial College London
  University of London, Institute of Education
  The University of Kent
  King's College London
  University of Wales Lampeter
  University of Lancaster
  The University of Leeds
  University of Leicester
  University of Liverpool
  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  London School of Economics
  Loughborough University
  LSTM
  The University of Manchester
  Newcastle University
  The University of Nottingham
  Open University
  University of Oxford
  University of London, Queen Mary
  University of Reading
  Royal College of Art
  University of London, Royal Holloway
  The University of Salford
  University of London, School of Pharmacy
  University of London, Senate House
  The University of Sheffield
  University of London, SOAS
  University of Southampton
  University of St Andrews
  The University of Stirling
  University of Strathclyde
  University of Surrey
  University of Sussex
  Swansea University
  University of Ulster
  University College London
  University of Warwick
  University of York

Next meeting

Thursday at 4pm in room G38e in Crescent House

Travel for 26th March

The march called by the TUC for Saturday 26th March will be the biggest display yet of our continued resistance to education cuts and cuts in general. If you can possibly come to London on the day, you should! We can put you in touch with arrangers of  coach travel, so you can access the most appropriate travel for you at low or no cost, whther you are students, lecturers, workers, or unemployed.

Email us at salforduniagainstcuts@gmail.com