Marching Through March – Dates for strike action announced for March.

Lecturers and teaching staff have announced 14 days’ worth of strikes due to the threat of 300 staff members being made redundant, to help close the 35-million-pound debt the university is currently facing. UCU members went to a vote in the early half of February over whether to action over the threats, a staggering 80% of members voted yes with a further 10% abstaining – but what does this mean for students?

Well, the strikes are scheduled to take place over all 4 weeks of March with each week having an increased level of disruption. The union have announced these days will be as follows:

• 4th and 6th of March
• 10th, 11th and 12th March.
• 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th March
• 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th March

Some lectures and contact hours will still go ahead as planned, however many will not take place during this period. The staff member running that session of teaching does not have to let the students know whether they are striking however, many departments are alerting students to disruptions and are encouraging them to support the industrial action. Any of the contact hours missed will not be rescheduled meaning there will impact on exams and assessments throughout the rest of this semester however, this will be considered in the marking and results process.

It is said that around 5% of jobs will be cut from each faculty meaning less choice of modules, fewer contact hours and more pressure for the staff that remain, causing an unnecessary strain on our education.

I am urging anyone reading this who is not in support of the strikes to consider how the possible redundancy will affect the rest of their degree. Many lecturers will be left overstretched and overworked, meaning the quality of education we receive will be severely impacted. 14 days of strike action could be what saves the rest of our degrees from being disrupted. It does not matter if you are an arts student, studying engineering or doing a psychology degree, the cuts are going to affect everyone!

If you wish to support your staff members there are several ways:

Sign the open letter to the education secretary to protest about lack of funding in higher education.

Email the vice-chancellor of the university and urge him to consider the impact of the cuts. chris.day@newcastle.ac.uk

Go and support the picket during the strike days and stand in solidarity with your staff members.

Look out for further information on the Newcastle Student Union page.

Although it is not ideal for anyone that this situation is happening, this is a sight that is happening at universities all over the country and it is time to act, to maintain the education we are paying so much money for.