From Monday 25th November to Wednesday 4th December, University and College Union (UCU) members from sixty universities across the country will take strike action. According to the UCU website, strike action relates to two separate legal disputes, on pensions and working conditions.
LSE UCU members however will not take part in the upcoming strike action. When asked about why LSE UCU members would not take part, LSE UCU Chair Vikas Chandra said, “Members at LSE UCU were balloted for strike action but the legal threshold of 50% of balloted members needing to vote was not reached, and so members at LSE are not able to take part in the strike.”
The latest strikes comes off the back of similar strikes in February 2018, in which LSE UCU members also did not participate. In February last year, The Beaver reported on the strikes and stated that, “Only 46.3% of LSE staff voted to go on strike on 16 February. The LSE will therefore not be participating in the University and College Union (UCU) strikes that academics and staff at 61 universities nationwide including Oxford, Cambridge and Kings will be taking part in this month.”
Since once again LSE UCU has failed to achieve the 50% voter turnout required for LSE UCU members to take part in strike action, LSE students will not be affected by this round of strikes.
