Union members react with anger to proposed deal
Photo credit Jonny
Jones
Members of the UCU
union were expressing their
determination on
Monday evening to reject a deal
reached earlier in
the day by a section of their
leadership and Universities UK. The deal was
heavily criticised
by members as soon as it was
released by UCU.
Many vented their frustration
online, furious
that it fell far short of what the strike
has demanded so
far. They pointed out that this
was because the deal:
§ Accepted the bosses
case that the scheme
was financially
unsustainable and raised the
amount of money
workers would have to
contribute each month
into their pension. At
the same time, the
rate at which employers
pay into the scheme
would fall.
§ Forced striking
workers to reschedule their
classes that were
missed during the strike,
effectively making
them work unpaid whilst
also undermining
the strike action.
§ Only lasted 3
years, in which time so-called
experts would be
invited to come and
present inferior
pension schemes, something
that goes against what people have been on
strike for.
In one open letter
–signed by 5,000 union
members within
hours – it said “In three years time
we will be demobilised and pressured to accept
a
worse deal. In our
opinion we should keep going
and throw UUK’s
offer out all together.”
In another
statement released by University of
Liverpool UCU, it
stated that a meeting of 100
members earlier in
the day had unanimously
rejected the deal.
“Members in our branch and
across the country
did not join one of the most
impressive shows of
collective solidarity in the
face of restrictive
trade union laws for a
compromise offer that
does not guarantee them
decency in
retirement.”, it read. Within hours,
#NoCapitulation was
trending on Twitter. One user
wrote “I was
feeling a tad unstrikey at the
weekend. I am
feeling very, very strikey now.
#NoCapitulation
#ucustrike” The branch secretary
of one UCU branch
involved in the strike simply
stated ‘massive
sellout!” on Facebook.
However, this was
not a done deal. Even the BBC
headlines on
Tuesday morning that made out the
strikes were about
to end had to acknowledge that
the agreement needed
to be ratified by a meeting
of union reps that
day, as well as any decision on
halting strikes.
The meeting – to be held in UCUs
London offices –
quickly became the focus of
union members’
anger, with hundreds committing
themselves to
demonstrate outside in protest at
the proposed deal.
Student groups which had
been set up to
support the strike also threw
themselves behind
what appeared to be an
overwhelming desire
to carry on the fight in
defence of a decent
pension.
As the morning
rolled on, stories poured in of huge
meetings of
striking university staff rejecting the
deal. One rep in
Cardiff put the atmosphere like
this: “We’ve had
picket lines this morning outside
buildings where
there hasn’t been one before.
People are turning
out more because they’re so
angry about the
deal.” The hall booked for the
meeting was too
small for the hundreds who
wanted to attend,
so they held it outside instead.
Workers held aloft
their placards, some had been
made the night
before and simply read: ‘No’. The
meeting overwhelmingly
rejected the deal.
The strike has
unleashed a level of industrial
struggle and
solidarity not seen in decades. The
mood of the strike
has been very upbeat and
workers rightly
think they can win. Pushing a deal
that falls so far
short may have provided an
already confident
strike with further opportunity to
strengthen the
organisation of ordinary union
members and their
supporters.
SC
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