The UCU have announced further strike action for 18 days between February and March, after a decision made by the union’s higher education committee (HEC) yesterday evening (12/01).

Cambridge will once again join more than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK striking over pay, conditions and pensions disputes.

This strike escalation comes after Cambridge took part in a three day national strike in November. The industrial action, which took place during Michaelmas term, was billed as the ‘largest in UK higher education history’, after the UCU became the first education union to secure a national strike mandate since the tightening of trade union laws in 2016.

Ahead of the union’s higher education committee meeting, the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) made an improved pay offer on Wednesday (11/01), increasing on last year’s 3% package to a 4 - 5 % raise.

With RPI at 14%, the UCU have criticized the offer as too small to address the cost of living crisis and a decade of low pay.

President of Cambridge UCU Michael Abberton told Varsity “the UCEA offer, which they initially refused to make unless action was suspended, goes no way to address the real-terms pay loss our members have suffered for years - and with the current rate of inflation represents another cut in pay”.

He continued: “Pay is also just one part of our campaign. We need a commitment to ensuring manageable workloads, an end to discriminatory pay gaps and precarity”.

However, the union has also viewed movement from the UCEA as a vindication of November’s strategy, with general secretary Jo Grady saying “the ballot got them back in the room. The strike action got us an offer”.

The UCU has also agreed on re-balloting staff for a renewed strike mandate. This would enable further industrial action later this year, including a marking and assessment boycott from April, if the disputes are not settled.

Speaking to Varsity, Michael Abberton said “none of our members want to go on strike or cause further disruption to our students. We sincerely hope that UCEA and UUK will see the strength of feeling of our members and come back to the table with a serious offer”.

Discussing the higher education committee’s decision, UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “today our union came together to back an unprecedented programme of escalating strike action. The clock is now ticking for the sector to produce a deal or be hit with widespread disruption throughout spring.

University staff dedicate their lives to education and they want to get back to work, but that will only happen if university vice-chancellors use the vast wealth of the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant insecure employment practices and devastating pension cuts. The choice is theirs”.

More precise strike dates will be announced next week.