SFEU (Solidarity Federation Education Union) continues to stand in solidarity with those workers who are currently involved in the UCU industrial actions taking place at FE and HE institutions across the country.
The UCU, at a Special Higher Education Sector Conference, has now set out the terms of the continuing dispute centred on pensions and the Four Fights (casualization, workload, equal pay and conditions for women and BAME workers and the broader issue of pay).
Our small but growing Union, the Solidarity Federation Education Union, supports this ballot and argues that workers should vote in favour of strike action to defend our pensions and conditions. With inflation rising, furlough ending, and historic injustices over pay, pensions and conditions continuing to prevail, the only option left to us is downing tools and walking out. To have any chance of success, this action must be both local and national and must build on the gains, small though they were, of the last period of strike action.
The need to help the people of Ukraine should not blind us to the fact that there is no such thing as a just war. There are only wars in which ruling elites use ordinary people like pawns to be sacrificed to meet their immediate interests.
Join Bristol SF to look at the historical influences of anarcho-syndicalism and how it continues to be a method of organising in our communities and workplaces. Using a of combination of strategies that are anti-hierarchical and based on working-class power to shape a world in which our needs are central.
WHAT IS GOING ON?
The University and College Union (UCU) is on strike at your institution from Monday the 28th to Wednesday the 2nd. The National Union of Students (NUS) has also called a student strike on the 2nd.
The strikes need your support. The best way to help us win is to stay out of university today.
WHY SHOULD I SUPPORT THE STRIKE?
Teachers’ working conditions are your learning conditions. Many of us will go on to work in education too, so this is directly in our interests.
Lecturers’ pay has fallen by 20%.
One third of academic staff are on precarious, short-term contracts.
Women university workers are still paid less than men, and more likely to be on these precarious contracts.
Non-white staff are also paid less than their white counterparts, and face similar issues.
Yesterday there were two demonstrations in Manchester. Firstly an anti-war Demo and a save the NHS demo
Brighton Solidarity Federation will be holding a workplace organiser training day on Saturday March 12th. The training is based on a direct action approach to organising rather than looking to use employment law to resolve workplace issues. No experience of workplace organising is necessary and the training takes place in a fun and friendly atmosphere. If you’re interested in organising in your workplace, or just want to learn about the organising process, this course is a great way to make a start.
The University and College Union (UCU) is continuing its action in defence of fair pensions and fair working conditions. Staff will be on strike in February and March in relation to both the pension dispute and the “Four Fights” (pay, workload, casualization, structural inequality).
The Solidarity Federation Education Union (SFEU) supports this action because…
● University lecturers’ pay has fallen by 20%.
● One third of academic staff are on precarious, short-term contracts. ● Women university workers are still paid less than men, and more likely to be on these precarious contracts.
● BAME and staff who are People of Colour are also often paid less than their white counterparts.
● Pensions are under threat.
Unite has suspended today’s strike by First Manchester bus drivers after the company made an improved offer in the dispute over pay.
Action planned for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have also been suspended while Unite ballots its 300+ members on the new offer. If it is accepted the dispute will have ended. If members reject the offer then strikes already scheduled for February 15, 17, 18, 21 and 25 will go ahead as planned.
Strike action began last month in the dispute over low rates of pay. The strike action was highly effective causing considerable disruption to bus services across Greater Manchester.
While bumbling Boris continues to lie through his teeth in a desperate attempt to cling to his job, the reality behind all his triumphalist talk has yet again been exposed in a new report by the Resolution Foundation.
Over the last few weeks, Johnson has repeatedly claimed that, thanks to his efforts, unemployment is now lower than before the start of the pandemic. The study by the Resolution Foundation did support Johnson's claim that unemployment levels were slightly lower but as ever with Johnson it is only half the story. The report also found that many young workers were made unemployed during the lockdown and once lockdown rules were relaxed, they could only find work in insecure jobs.