Million students hit by lecturer walk-out at British universities

Source: Xinhua    2018-02-23 03:42:46

LONDON, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- A series of strikes by academic lecturers started Thursday with walk-outs at over 60 British universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

Academic staff plan a month-long campaign of strikes in a dispute over changes to lecturers' pensions. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) say a typical lecturer will be almost 14,000 U.S. dollars a year worse off in retirement as a result of the pension changes, with younger lecturers impacted even more.

However, the employers' group Universities UK (UUK) described the strike action as disappointing and said it was still at the negotiating table.

A spokesman said: "The changes proposed will make the scheme secure, and sustainable, safeguarding the future of universities. University staff will still have a valuable pension scheme, with employer contributions of 18 percent of salary, double the private sector average."

The pension scheme changes will affect staff at 68 of Britain's older universities.

Around a million students are expected to be affected by the strikes. It has sparked a petition signed by tens of thousands of students demanding refunds for their lost teaching.

Meanwhile, UUK said the institutions affected by the dispute were doing all they could to minimize the impact of the industrial action on students.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU, said staff were angry and significant disruption on campuses across the UK looked inevitable.

"We are ready to meet at any time for serious negotiations about how we resolve this mess. The time has come for UUK to listen to the many voices telling them to start talking."

Keith Simpson, a senior law lecturer at City University in London, said the proposals would devastate academics' pensions.

Simpson said: "They're not particularly well paid, but they do have the benefits of some certainty that when they retire they will have a reasonable pension. Under the proposals that are being put forward, that's gone. We think this is a stand we've got to take."

The strike will continue with more walk outs spanning three days next week, starting Monday. In early March, two strikes are scheduled to last four and five days respectively.

Editor: Chengcheng
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Million students hit by lecturer walk-out at British universities

Source: Xinhua 2018-02-23 03:42:46

LONDON, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- A series of strikes by academic lecturers started Thursday with walk-outs at over 60 British universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.

Academic staff plan a month-long campaign of strikes in a dispute over changes to lecturers' pensions. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) say a typical lecturer will be almost 14,000 U.S. dollars a year worse off in retirement as a result of the pension changes, with younger lecturers impacted even more.

However, the employers' group Universities UK (UUK) described the strike action as disappointing and said it was still at the negotiating table.

A spokesman said: "The changes proposed will make the scheme secure, and sustainable, safeguarding the future of universities. University staff will still have a valuable pension scheme, with employer contributions of 18 percent of salary, double the private sector average."

The pension scheme changes will affect staff at 68 of Britain's older universities.

Around a million students are expected to be affected by the strikes. It has sparked a petition signed by tens of thousands of students demanding refunds for their lost teaching.

Meanwhile, UUK said the institutions affected by the dispute were doing all they could to minimize the impact of the industrial action on students.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU, said staff were angry and significant disruption on campuses across the UK looked inevitable.

"We are ready to meet at any time for serious negotiations about how we resolve this mess. The time has come for UUK to listen to the many voices telling them to start talking."

Keith Simpson, a senior law lecturer at City University in London, said the proposals would devastate academics' pensions.

Simpson said: "They're not particularly well paid, but they do have the benefits of some certainty that when they retire they will have a reasonable pension. Under the proposals that are being put forward, that's gone. We think this is a stand we've got to take."

The strike will continue with more walk outs spanning three days next week, starting Monday. In early March, two strikes are scheduled to last four and five days respectively.

[Editor: huaxia]
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