TUESDAY saw hundreds of students and university workers gather outside the Scottish Parliament. They were there in a spirit of resistance and solidarity to send a loud and clear message against student poverty and in support of striking lecturers.
The University and Colleges Union (UCU) has led a series of strikes over recent weeks. These have been in opposition to cuts to lecturers’ pensions and what it calls the “Four Fights” – low pay, increasing workloads, precarious employment contracts and gender and race pay gaps.
I was proud to address the rally on behalf of the Scottish Greens. I used my speech to underline our support for the strikes and stress how positive it is to see so many students and university staff coming together in recognition that their campaigns are inherently linked and acting as one. Lecturers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. And vice versa. That understanding and that unity is the essence of solidarity. We should never have had to be there, but we had no choice.
READ MORE: Scots students bring biscuits and cakes to striking lecturers
It is a story and a struggle that I am all too familiar with. I’ve been part of the fight for education justice for over 20 years. I have stood on university picket lines as a trade unionist, as Rector of Aberdeen University and as an MSP. Whatever role I have been doing, I have always supported calls for better pay and conditions, manageable workloads and secure pensions.
The current dispute relates to the prospect of eye-watering cuts to pensions that are provided via the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). This is the biggest private pension fund in the UK and covers the pension funds of 460,000 people, including staff from eight universities in Scotland.
Universities UK (UUK), the employer representative made up of university managers in USS, supported and agreed to the cut that will see a typical lecturer lose more than one-third of their retirement income. It is a cut that will have a massive impact on staff and their families.
This cut is based on a valuation of the scheme that was carried out in March 2020, just as the pandemic was hitting and markets were collapsing. Since this valuation, the scheme’s assets have jumped by more than £25 billion. That’s an increase in value of more than £50,000 for every scheme member. Just in the last two years. University managers are basically just stockpiling money.
For trustees to ignore this massive shift in the valuation, and for them to treat the value of funds at the height of a pandemic as typical of their value, can only be regarded as a cynical and dishonest move. It also emphasises why it is so problematic for the fund to be managed by trustees that include university managers, who have a clear conflict of interest.
This is the latest in a series of attacks that have undermined the conditions and wellbeing of staff. It is characteristic of an organisation that may know the cost of some things but does not understand the value of higher education and those that provide it.
It is an organisation that has been at the heart of the marketisation of our universities and has all too often treated them as cash cows rather than transformative institutions where people can learn and develop.
Universities are not just bricks and mortar, they are so much more than that. They are places that can change the world. They are places where people can learn and achieve great things for themselves and the society around them. But these ideals are a far cry from the reality for many staff.
University staff were already overworked before the pandemic. But, over the last two years, they have gone above and beyond and have borne the brunt of the transition to online and hybrid working. UCU Scotland reports that three-quarters of university staff reported an increased workload throughout the pandemic, with many feeling burnt out.
With casualised contracts becoming increasingly entrenched, the reality is that our universities are increasingly reliant on unpaid labour and the goodwill of a staff body that are having to fight on far too many fronts.
The situation is even worse for staff from marginalised backgrounds, with university pay entrenching existing inequalities. The gender pay gap in UK universities sits at 15%, whilst the disability pay gap is 9% and the race pay gap is 17%.
A sector built on the widespread use of insecure contracts, staff burnout and falling pay will not be able to consistently deliver the best for students.
At Tuesday’s rally I heard from academic staff who would have as little as two hours to prepare for a week’s seminars and lectures and were expected to give detailed feedback to students in the space of twenty minutes. These conditions are students’ learning conditions, which is why unity is so important.
It is not just staff who are struggling. Twelve per cent of students have experienced homelessness since starting their studies and estranged and care-experienced students are often in some of the most vulnerable and precarious positions.
READ MORE: More Scottish universities to see UCU staff strikes over pay disputes
A third of students have considered dropping out due to financial difficulties and a quarter of students have struggled to pay rent. More than 60% have experienced mental ill-health because of financial pressures. The system is clearly broken.
Education is the bedrock of a fairer and better society. It has the power to change the world and empower those who don’t feel they should or could have a voice. It allows us to expand our minds and horizons. It allows us to be creative and to make the world a better place. It must remain free and accessible.
Tuesday was not the end of the dispute. The strikes and actions to protect pensions and conditions will continue and, as university workers continue to resist these regressive changes, I and thousands of others will be standing right there with them. Because we also know that this will have knock-on consequences for the broader pension system too. Our futures are all at risk. It is long past time for Universities UK to recognise the great work that is being done by staff every day against a backdrop of heavy workload and deteriorating conditions. Even at this late hour, they can stop the cuts and show their staff and students the respect that they deserve.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel