This week, 25-29th September, academics who are members of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) will be on strike. Whilst we know this will be disruptive to some students, GSU Officers are supporting this action taken by University staff. Students mandated us to support the strikes through our Student Assembly in November 2022. 

We know our academics want to create a working environment that allows them to support students and that strike action is a last resort. Falling pay, excessive workloads, equity issue?and casualisation have led to this action and we call on the University to work to tackle these issues with staff around the negotiating table. 

Staff working conditions are our learning conditions. If we want a quality education, we need to ensure our staff are treated with respect, not overworked and not underpaid.  

For any questions about attendance on strike days you can contact your Personal Tutor.  

NationallyUCU staff are striking, asking their employers – Universities - to address four key areas: 

1. Pay: As inflation and the cost-of-living continually rise, staff pay has not been increased at the same rate as inflation, making it harder for our academic colleagues to get by.

2. Casualisation of Contracts: Nationally, more and more staff are being hired on casual contracts to teach. This means the person teaching you might not have a secure job with a regular income and may not be given hours to meet you outside of class or respond to your queries.

3. Deterioration of working conditions: Staff are being asked to teach more students and do more work. This doesn’t create a good learning environment for students. 

4. Pension cuts: There is a dispute over pensions at some universities, but this doesn’t apply to Greenwich staff.

We believe tackling these issues will not only benefit staff but will benefit our students as it will provide a healthier working environment for our students, as well as improve the motivation of staff who will be happy to continue doing what they love. We are particularly concerned about casualisation of contracts, especially in relation to our Postgraduate Research members.

We highly recommend checking GSU’s, the University’s, and UCU’s website, if you want to find out more about the strikes, what to do if you’re affected, and how you can support them.

If you have any immediate questions, please get in contact with any of your GSU Officers or check out our updated strike webpage. 

Signed by: 

Anuj Baral, GSU President?2023/24 

Aminul Fahad Islam, GSU Officer?2023/24 

Sodiq Lawal, GSU Officer?2023/24 

Laziz Tokhirov, GSU Officer?2023/24