Lancaster University staff to strike for 14 days amid disputes involving pay and pensions

Lancaster University will be hit with 14 days of strike action in February and March, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced today (February 2).

The action will start with two days of action on February 20 and 21 and will escalate every week, culminating with a week-long walkout from Monday, March 9 to Friday, March 13.

The UCU revealed that the disputes centre on the sustainability of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and rising costs for members, and on "universities’ failure to make significant improvements on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads."

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "If universities want to avoid further disruption they need to deal with rising pension costs, and address the problems over pay and conditions.

"We have been clear from the outset that we would take serious and sustained industrial action if that was what was needed.

"As well as the strikes starting later this month, we are going to ballot members to ensure that we have a fresh mandate for action until the end of the academic year if these disputes are not resolved."

UCU members at Lancaster were among staff at 60 universities who walked out for eight days of strikes before Christmas.

When are the strikes?

The strike action begins on Thursday, February 20 and will continue until March 13.

Week one - Thursday 20 & Friday 21 February

Week two – Monday 24, Tuesday 25 & Thursday 26 February

Week three – Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 March

Week four - Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Thursday 12 & Friday 13 March

Which universities are striking?

Here is the full list:

Striking about both disputes:

1. Aston University

2. Bangor University

3. Cardiff University

4. University of Durham

5. Heriot-Watt University

6. Loughborough University

7. Newcastle University

8. The Open University

9. The University of Bath

10. The University of Dundee

11. The University of Leeds

12. The University of Manchester

13. The University of Sheffield

14. University of Nottingham

15. The University of Stirling

16. University College London

17. The University of Birmingham

18. The University of Bradford

19. The University of Bristol

20. The University of Cambridge

21. The University of Edinburgh

22. The University of Exeter

23. The University of Essex

24. The University of Glasgow

25. The University of Lancaster

26. The University of Leicester

27. City University

28. Goldsmiths College

29. Queen Mary University of London

30. Royal Holloway

31. The University of Reading

32. The University of Southampton

33. The University of St Andrews

34. Courtauld Institute of Art

35. The University of Strathclyde

36. The University of Wales

37. The University of Warwick

38. The University of York

39. The University of Liverpool

40. The University of Sussex

41. The University of Aberdeen

42. The University of Ulster

43. Queen's University Belfast

44. Birkbeck College, University of London

45. SOAS, University of London

46. The University of Oxford

47. The University of East Anglia

Striking only about pay and conditions:

1. Bishop Grosseteste University

2. Bournemouth University

3. Edge Hill University

4. Glasgow Caledonian University

5. Glasgow School of Art

6. Liverpool Hope University

7. Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts

8. Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

9. St Mary's University College, Belfast

10. Roehampton University

11. Sheffield Hallam University

12. The University of Brighton

13. The University of Kent

14. Bath Spa University

15. Royal College of Art

16. University of Huddersfield

17. University of Winchester

18. University of East London

19. Leeds Trinity University

20. UAL London College of Arts

21. De Montfort University

22. University of Greenwich

Striking only about USS pensions disputes:

1. Scottish Association of Marine Science

2. Institute for Development Studies

3. Keele University

4. King's College London

5. Imperial College London