Monday 24 October saw Newcastle University become part of history, as The University and College Union's (UCU) national ballot to strike passed.
This marks the first time an education union has given the green light to national strike action, affecting all 150 UK university branches under the UCU, including Newcastle University.
"[The UCU] will bring every university in the UK to a complete standstill" if nothing is done to rectify issues of pay, working conditions, and pensions in universities, General Secretary of The UCU Jo Grady said.
Newcastle University staff make up part of the 70,000 higher education staff members who are now empowered to strike, as both UCU ballots up for contest passed. With 81.1% in agreement with the pay and working conditions ballot and 84.9% for the ballot on USS pension schemes.
[The UCU] will bring every university in the UK to a complete standstill
The result "show[s] the strength of feeling amongst university staff about the greatest single real pay cut that we have ever faced after a decade of below inflation pay settlements, arriving in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis," The Newcastle University UCU brand committee's spokesperson said.
Currently, the UCU has proposed "2 days of strike action across the UK" during the week commencing 21 November, moving to escalate this action "significantly" from February 2023 onwards when Newcastle University students will have returned for second semester.
Additionally, the UCU have suggested resorting to another marking boycott during the second semester of the 2022-23 academic year.
The "toughest [strike] measure is the marking boycott" Head of School of History, Classics and Archaeology Annie Tindley said.
It could affect all students, but especially those in their final stage who require their dissertation and module grades in order to graduate in the Summer. Much like the marking boycott did last year in jeopardising successful graduations for Newcastle students.
In a poll conducted by The Courier, 74% of Newcastle University students stated that they supported strike action. Yet, 82% of students then agreed that they were worried about the impact strike action would have on their studies.
These worries were also voiced through poor National Student Survey results in certain subjects heavily implicated by strikes. For instance, Newcastle's Undergraduate History programme only attained a 56% overall satisfaction score in comparison to a general national average of 76.3%.
[Students] pay for a degree, not for strikes
The apparent dread and unease that some students feel over strike action was reinforced through students worrying over "feeling unprepared for assessments," which is exacerbated through "missing out on content."
An additional concern is "disengagement between lecturers and students, especially after having a covid start to university," third year History and Archaeology student Blythe Pratt added.
Ultimately, students "pay for a degree, not for strikes" second year Journalism, Media and Culture student Jack Evans told The Courier.
Postgraduate students also have a lot more at stake as they can both be implicated by, and involved in, strike action with certain PGR students having their own teaching hours.
The strikes are "inconvenient at best" an anonymous postgraduate research student in Bioscience said.
Yet staff face a difficult decision when striking. "Our main priority is to rebuild a community between staff and students after a couple of very difficult years," Tindley said.
When it comes to student support, the university intends to "work with NUSU and our colleagues to ensure that any impact on our students is kept to a minimum," a Newcastle University spokesperson said.
Furthering this, this year's Education Sabbatical Officer Mackenzie Marshall passed a motion through Student Council on Thursday 20 October that "mandate[d] Sabbatical Officers to conduct a cross-campus poll on student opinion regarding potential UCU industrial action.” This will collate student voices and allow the Students' Union to "come to a stance informed by, and which best represents, student opinion."
Though after being contacted for comment, the President, Postgraduate and Education Sabbatical Officers all turned down interviews with The Courier in favour of a joint statement declaring they "are not in a position to comment yet."
This ballot marks a watershed for those UCU members and higher education staff fighting against "The Four Fights" of pay, workload, equality and casualisation.
Our main priority is to rebuild a community between staff and students after a couple of very difficult years
However, the push for these measures can end up as "an internal battle" for staff, Tindley said, as these aims can appear to be too general with no specific roadmap.
"We could always be looking for better pay or better conditions," Tindley said.