College and university lecturers announce 30 June strike action

UCU today announced that its members in further education colleges in England and Wales and 'post-92' universities* (mainly former polytechnics), will be taking strike action to defend pensions later this month (Thursday 30 June).

UCU members in the Teachers' Pension Scheme were balloted for action earlier this year and on Thursday 24 March lecturers at over 500 colleges and universities took strike action.

The row is over planned changes to the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS), which UCU says will see greater contributions from pension scheme members for reduced benefits. The union has warned that there could be a significant opt-out by new starters, which would not only damage their chances of a decent retirement, but also the long-term sustainability of the pension scheme.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The average lecturer faces an increase of around £90 a month in exchange for reduced benefits. UCU remains committed to a negotiated solution, but that requires employers and government to actively engage with, and listen to, staff concerns. We are pleased that other unions have now also balloted in favour of strike action and will be joining us on 30 June.

'Educators do not like taking strike action. Our chosen vocation is to change lives and transform life chances and we are unlikely militants. However, while ordinary people suffer huge cuts in their standards of living, the richest 1,000 people in Britain saw their collective wealth rise by 18% last year.'

* The universities where UCU members will be on strike:
Anglia Ruskin University
Bath Spa University
Birmingham City University
Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln
Bournemouth University
Buckinghamshire New University
Canterbury Christ Church University
Central School of Speech and Drama
Coventry University
University of Cumbria
De Montfort University
Edge Hill University
Glyndŵr University
Harper Adams University College
Kingston University
Leeds College of Music
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Trinity and All Saints
Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool John Moores University
London Metropolitan University
London South Bank University
Middlesex University
Newman College of Higher Education
Norwich University College of the Arts
Oxford Brookes University
Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
Roehampton University
Rose Bruford College
Royal College of Music
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Sheffield Hallam University
Southampton Solent University
St Mary's University College, Twickenham
Staffordshire University
Swansea Metropolitan University
Thames Valley University
The Manchester Metropolitan University
The Nottingham Trent University
University for the Creative Arts
The University of Bolton
The University of Brighton
The University of Central Lancashire
The University of Chichester
The University of East London
The University of Greenwich
The University of Huddersfield
The University of Lincoln
The University of Northampton
The University of Northumbria at Newcastle
The University of Plymouth
The University of Portsmouth
The University of Sunderland
The University of Teesside
The University of Wales, Newport
The University of Westminster
The University of Winchester
The University of Wolverhampton
The University of Worcester
Trinity University College, Carmarthen
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
University College Birmingham
University College Falmouth (inc Dartington Coll.)
University College Plymouth St Mark and St John
University of Bedfordshire
University of Chester
University of Derby
University of Glamorgan
University of Gloucestershire
University of Hertfordshire
University of the Arts, London
University of the West of England, Bristol
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
Writtle College
York St John University