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>> Bad sex? Your ex? Comment’s Agony Aunts have you covered 13th February 2018 Issue 348
The official student newspaper of the University of East Anglia | concrete-online.co.uk
Majority of students support lecturers' strike Shannon McDonagh Senior News Reporter The University and College Union (UCU) will begin two weeks of industrial action, starting with a two day strike on Thursday 22 February. Members of staff at UEA and 60 other universities will join together to protest changes to their pensions. However, the decision to strike has been subject to misinformation about who will be striking and why. The UCU represents over 110,000 people who are employed by universities in some way, from lecturers to librarians. In the eyes of the UCU, strike action is needed due to the manner in which staff pensions are being handled by the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which is one of the largest principal private pension schemes for universities and other higher education institutions in the UK. According to a survey conducted by this newspaper, student attitudes about the strike have been somewhat mixed, though there appears to be a general support for striking staff. Out of the 87 students surveyed by Concrete, 63 percent said they supported the strike. One English Literature second year even told Concrete: “I would be joining the lecturers in striking if I could.” Only 3 percent of students were opposed to the industrial action, and a further 34 percent said they were unsure. Charlotte, a second year Pharmacy student, explained why she was unsure: “My course has a lot of contact hours. On Mondays I’m in lectures from 9-5, the strike will cause a lot of disruption.” Another
student, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “The whole point of a strike is to be disruptive.” They continued: “I overwhelmingly understand and support the strikes. It’s tough but what can you do?” Concrete found 56 percent of students were worried about the impact the strikes will have on their education. 80 percent of students said they felt they understood the reasons for the strike.
"I overwhelmingly support the strikes. It's tough but what can you do?" The USS have proposed changes to its pension scheme that would see those affiliated receiving a pension dependent on the strength of the market, instead of the 8 percent of their salaries presented as a guaranteed sum. The average lecturer could lose £200,000 over the course of their career from this modification. The changes are widely believed to be due to a valuation last year that revealed the pension scheme was in a deficit of £7.5bn. It was only after negotiations between both parties and employers collapsed that strike action was seen to be the only option. The number of staff members at UEA that are members of the UCU amounts 596 people, which is 18 percent of its entire staff. That said, when given
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University's accessibility budget cut by 50k Sophie Bunce Deputy Editor The university has reduced their Access All Areas annual budget from £300,000 to £250,000, sparking concerns from the Students’ Union about the pace of improving campus accessibility. The £50,000 cut follows commitments by Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Richardson, to ensure and improve campus accessibility for students. The Access All Areas (AAA) team was established to improve access for all students and staff on campus in both existing and developing UEA buildings.
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This came after concerns specifically regarding access for disabled students. Dr Katherine Dean, a Senior Lecturer in Research at UEA, writing on her blog in 2017 described the difficulties for people living with disabilities in accessing UEA buildings. In response to such concerns, the Vice-Chancellor committed to improving disability access across campus. In the past there have been concerns of the budget's limitations, as expressed by Dr Dean who said: “A single powered door can cost £15,000 to buy and install. If we only addressed our highest priority items, this would cost over £1 million.” The university said the decision
to reduce the budget “was not taken lightly.” A university spokesperson said: “The decision was considered in the context of all works that have already been undertaken by AAA in conjunction with Estates, and the Estate Strategy. “Currently we are working on the delivery of the Estate Strategy which is a multi-million pound investment across campus which will impact on many areas, including the improvement of accessibility for all.” However, the budget reduction has brought concerns about its
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