Resolution to submit at your Union branches/CLPs/elsewhere in solidarity with UCU members going on strike from Thursday

This group/branch/region notes:

1That the strike called by UCU is in response to a massive attack on university staff pensions. The proposals from Universities UK will mean huge cuts to pensions – a new lecturer, for example, could lose some £208,000 of retirement income.

2That the employers want individual pension pots which are gambled on the stock market and where risk is borne by individual members of staff and not institutions.

3That attacks on pensions are intimately linked to the further marketisation of higher education more generally.

4That as well as privatisation, the attack on pensions is about preparing universities for full entry into a higher education market where the richest institutions are not required to carry liabilities on behalf of the poorest and most vulnerable.

5That the attacks on pensions come as part of a process of casualisation of university staff and a period of pay offers that amount to pay cuts.

6That this comes at a time when Universities are hoarding massive surpluses thanks to the £9k tuition fees – universities made a £1.8bn surplus – and when Vice Chancellors and senior management staff have seen dramatic increases in their already exorbitant pay.

7That the vote for strike action by UCU members was a decisive one with a 60% turnout and between 80% and 100% for strike action.

This group/branch/region resolves:

1To send a message of support to lecturers in our nearest university and UCU branch.

2To hold a collection or make a donation to the strike fund.

3To send a delegation to our nearest picket line with our branch banner.