Enough is Enough! National Day of Action Protest in Leeds

Gabriel Kennedy on 31 October 2022

On the 1st of October, protesters nationwide braved the rain and took to the streets in a day of action organised by the Enough is Enough campaign to challenge the growing Cost of Living Crisis. The rally marched from the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers’ (RMT) picket line at Leeds Train Station on to protest outside the British Gas offices. Later, protestors moved on to support the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) picket down at the Royal Mail Holbeck delivery office. The protest made a clear point of showing the interconnectedness of industrial action and the Cost of Living Crisis, as well as the failures of national leadership.

Outside the British Gas offices in Holbeck protestors symbolically burned energy bills, energy company logos and fake money. During their speeches, union representatives and protestors denounced profiteering by energy, rail and postal companies amid record profits. The Regional Coordinator for the campaign described the volumes of people they’d met struggling to meet their bills and put food on the table despite working 60-hour weeks. As energy companies continue to see high profits and shareholders rake in enormous bonuses, the Coordinator saw the causes of the Cost of Living Crisis as very simple: “It’s just putting profit above everything else isn’t it – it’s just greed.”

Embodying its name – Enough is Enough – the atmosphere was one of a shift away from complacency toward taking action after having put up with far too much. Saturday’s protest brought together a variety of people of different ages from different backgrounds to challenge the status quo and fight for a better standard of living. One protester discussed how they hadn’t protested other issues they felt strongly about – such as Brexit – but that things had got so bad that they had no choice but to come out into the street. They described how the looming presence of the Cost of Living Crisis had become unavoidable and everyone had been affected by it – they themself having to seriously re-evaluate their bills and cutting back on their spending. They felt shocked, coming from a line of union activists from the 1926 General Strike to Yorkshire miners in the 1980s, that today things would still be this bad.

Strikers on picket lines at both the train station and delivery office were met with an outpouring of support and solidarity from protestors who came to lend their numbers to the picket and hear their grievances. At the delivery office in “Hellbeck” – so-called by Royal Mail management due to their total unionisation and refusal to let slack on the protection of their fellow workers – picketers were cheered by the crowd in support of their fight for an inflation-line pay-rise and the continuation of their worker protections. This was emblematic of the nationwide wave of industrial action set to continue throughout the winter. The increased rate of striking and worker militancy, especially in the face of government threats against union organisation has been clearly and deliberately linked to the fight against the Cost of Living Crisis by this protest, with great support from its attendees. A regular chant from protestors throughout the rally was “Every Strike, Every Time, We’ll be on the Picket Line!”

Saturday’s protest emphasised the importance of solidarity and mutual support in the face of the growing crisis and its turnout across the country highlights the growth of discontent that only seems to be growing as we head into what will certainly be a difficult winter.

Image Credit: Gabriel Kennedy

Pragmatic Students Support Strike Action

Séamus O'Hanlon on 11 February 2022

ral student response to hearing about staff strike action is self-pity, a deserved and valid reaction to the broken promise that students at least for their own serious financial commitment, enjoy a complete academic year. There is no ideal response to strike action affecting students particularly when our educational experiences have been stunted throughout the nearly two years of the pandemic. There is, however, a right response to staff strike action, which is of solidarity and of pragmatism.

University of Leeds staff back strike over pay and conditions

Josh Elgin on 8 November 2021

University of Leeds lecturers, researchers and academic staff have voted to go on strike this semester in the latest development of a long running dispute over pay and working conditions. 

The University and College Union (UCU) Leeds branch secured a turnout of 60.8% – above the 50% legal ballot threshold – with 75.2% of members voting to take strike action.

Chloe Wallace, President of the Leeds UCU branch, said in a statement: “This is a magnificent outcome, which repeats what we achieved in 2019, in very different circumstances.”

Wallace paid tribute to volunteers who had sent texts and calls to members about the vote, noting that staff in Manchester, Newcastle and UCL had narrowly failed to reach a 50% turnout meaning they are unable to proceed with a strike.

She said the University could “avoid the disruption of industrial action” by working with the union to find settlements to their disputes. In the meantime, Wallace said the union is “determined to build our solidarity and our creativity to take effective, powerful action to bring them back to the table.”

The UCU said 57 other universities have supported strike action. It has called for a £2,500 wage increase for all staff, an end to pay discrimination, the elimination of zero-hours and other casual contracts, and measures to tackle unmanageable workloads

An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Leeds branch will be held on Tuesday 9th to discuss the next steps which will then be fed into a nation-wide branch delegate meeting, with a UCU higher education committee ultimately deciding how the union will use its mandate to take action.

The University must be given a minimum of two weeks notice so strike action is not expected until the end of November or December.

The Russell Group, which represents 24 universities in the UK including Leeds, criticised the decision, saying in a statement: 

“Industrial action will only penalise students who are enjoying the buzz of campus life after a challenging 18 months and will not change the fact that reform is needed to ensure the USS scheme is sustainable and affordable for staff and employers.

“Universities are well prepared to mitigate the impact of industrial action on students and would urge UCU, who have acknowledged the need for change to USS, to work with employers to find mutually agreeable solutions that will provide value for money for the long-term without placing an unfair burden on future generations.”

In an email sent to students last month, the University said that it wishes to see the matter resolved quickly, and has already promised some changes including the reduction of the use of short-term contracts. It says, however, that “the issues at the heart of the ballot are national issues” beyond their control.

It promised to “minimise the impact” of strike action on the education and experience of students.

University staff threaten to strike again over pay and conditions

Josh Elgin on 19 October 2021

Students could again be disrupted by strike action this semester after the University and College Union (UCU) opened a strike ballot over pay and working conditions

The ballot is the latest measure in a long-running dispute between the UCU and university employers, with staff at 152 institutions being balloted.

UCU members received ballots this week to decide whether to strike. Leeds University staff have previously taken part in strikes in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Jo Grady, the UCU General Secretary, said: “University staff propped up the entire sector during the pandemic, but they are now being thanked with huge cuts to their pensions, unbearably high workloads, and another below-inflation pay offer – all whilst universities continue to generate a handsome income from tuition fees.

“The truth is that very well paid university leadership, who manage institutions with bigger turnovers than top football clubs, are choosing to exploit the goodwill of staff, repeatedly refusing to address the rampant use of casualised contracts, unsafe workloads or the shocking gender and ethnicity pay gap in the sector.

“Our members across the UK know that working in a university does not have to be like this and are clear that they are ready to take action to stand up for their dignity, defend pensions and win long overdue improvements to their pay and working conditions. There is still time for university chiefs to resolve a situation which is entirely of their own making, but they must return to negotiations and make credible offers.”

The National Union of Students (NUS) issued a statement in support of the staff ballot, saying “students will hold employers responsible” if employers do not come to “a negotiated settlement and address the fundamental issues repeatedly raised by staff.”

Larissa Kennedy, the NUS National President, said, “As students, we regularly witness how staff and student’s conditions are intertwined. University management forcing staff onto casualised contracts, cutting their pay, and now trying to cut thousands of pounds from their pensions cannot be divorced from the fact that one in 10 students has needed to access a foodbank to survive the pandemic – these aren’t the actions of a university leadership or an education system that have the interests of staff or students at heart.

“Staff working conditions are student learning conditions and we stand shoulder to shoulder with our educators in fighting for a more just education system. We demand fully funded, accessible, lifelong education where our spaces of teaching and learning belong to the students, staff and communities they exist to serve. Until then, it is entirely in the gift of vice chancellors and employers to come to a negotiated settlement and address the fundamental issues repeatedly raised by staff. If they don’t, students will hold employers responsible.”

On the day ballots were sent to UCU members, students received an email from setting out how the University intends to respond to the potential strike action. 

The email states that if there is a strike the University will do everything it can to “minimise the impact on your education and experience.” 

And although the University says it wishes to see the matter resolved quickly, and has already promised some changes including the reduction of the use of short-term contracts, it says that “the issues at the heart of the ballot are national issues” beyond their control.

The UCU is expected to make a final decision by November 8. If approved, action could take place as soon as the second half of November, though mandates are valid for six months, so action could also start later.  

Leeds University Union (LUU) is calling for students to contact them to explain what the move would mean to them, what they want to know about the strikes and how students have been affected in the past.

Image: wikicommons