{"id":331,"date":"2018-02-01T17:04:08","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T17:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=331"},"modified":"2018-02-15T17:11:05","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T17:11:05","slug":"strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/02\/01\/strike\/","title":{"rendered":"STRIKE!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dates have been announced, and it’s the biggest strike in UCU history. Fourteen days of action in four consecutive weeks, taking place at Lancaster and 60 other universities: Thursday to Friday in Week 16, Monday to Wednesday in Week 17, Monday to Thursday in Week 18 and Monday to Friday in Week 19. Many courses will be disrupted; for modules set to run in Weeks 16-20 where teaching staff are taking action, it is difficult to see how the course can continue at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our VC has subtly changed his position in recent weeks. Whereas before Christmas the message from D Floor was one of cautious sympathy, the line now seems to be ‘nothing I can do about it, mate!’ Reportedly (see our Court report below) the larger, older universities are not going to tolerate having larger pension liabilities appearing on their balance sheets, for fear this might affect their ability to raise funds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite these supportive noises from management, Lancaster UCU members voted overwhelmingly to strike, on a turnout that was the third highest in the UK, and the highest in England.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lancaster UCU has stressed its wish to ensure that no-one is prevented from taking action due to financial hardship, and has re-established its local strike fund, but the prospect of losing 14 days’ pay is likely to lead to difficult decisions for many staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

subtext readers on grades 6 and above who are not presently members of UCU can join at any point and take strike action – recruitment is reportedly very healthy. HR has actually informed HoDs that UCU membership has ‘significantly increased since the strike was called’. Interesting that such a call for action has resulted in such a significant increase in membership, and somewhat curious that HR felt the need to tell HoDs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nobody at present thinks this one is going to be resolved any time soon.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The dates have been announced, and it’s the biggest strike in UCU history. Fourteen days of action in four consecutive weeks, taking place at Lancaster and 60 other universities: Thursday to Friday in Week 16, Monday to Wednesday in Week … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[214,149,179,70],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-issue-172","tag-pensions","tag-strike","tag-ucu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s99sHo-strike","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1492,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2021\/02\/19\/subtext-196-wholly-government-approved-free-speaking-subtext\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":0},"title":"subtext 196 – wholly government-approved free-speaking subtext","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 19 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Frequency determined by contributions received. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details: http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial, campus update, rent strike, partnerships, freedom of speech, strategy, testing, still recruiting, a poem, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL Exactly one year ago tomorrow, UCU members up and down the country began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":483,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/03\/15\/strike-up-your-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":1},"title":"STRIKE UP YOUR LIFE","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 15 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In the fortnight since the last edition of subtext, there has been a considerable amount of strike-related activity, both in Lancaster and at the national level. THE LOCAL FLAVOUR The campus picket lines have been busier than ever, with a head count of over 160 on Tuesday this week, along\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1207,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/02\/19\/a-tale-of-two-union-meetings\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":2},"title":"A TALE OF TWO UNION MEETINGS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 19 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Impending strike action was the sole subject of discussion at what were otherwise two very different Lancaster UCU General Meetings, one on 22 January and the other on 18 February. Both were relatively well-attended - the January one looked packed because it was in the cosy Marcus Merriman Lecture Theatre,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "official meetings"","block_context":{"text":"official meetings","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/official-meetings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":814,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/11\/08\/union-silo-blues\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":3},"title":"UNION SILO BLUES","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 8 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year the five main UK Higher Education unions (including the three recognised at Lancaster University) haggle and bargain over pay rates for staff in the sector with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA, acronym fans!). This year the unions' joint claim was for an increase of 7.5% or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1246,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/03\/27\/subtext-193-stay-home-and-read-subtext\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":4},"title":"subtext 193 – ‘stay home and read subtext’","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 27 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often during term time (and sometimes slightly later). Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details: http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial, freeze, applause, court report, rip tony madeley, gender stereotyping update, democracy update, toilet paper, teach outs, widden's review, pies, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL That UCU strike\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":356,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/02\/15\/student-citizens-advice-bureau\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":5},"title":"STUDENT CITIZENS’ ADVICE BUREAU?","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 15 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"'To govern is to choose. To appear to be unable to choose is to appear to be unable to govern.' So said a wise person... well, OK, actually it was Nigel Lawson. Still, it's a good quote. LUSU's executive committee has decided against taking a position on the UCU strike.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}