Wednesday 7 February 2018
Issue 116
Arts 2018
Trash Talk
An insight into the zero-waste lifestyle Features
p. 10
Student protests have occured in support of the UCU pension strikes
All the local events you can’t afford to miss this year
Arts
p. 17
Roger Federer
A purist role model and tennis icon Sport p. 29
Dave Pickersgill
University staff set for 14 days of strikes Ben Warner
Strikes are set to take place at the University of Sheffield, with members of the University College Union walking out after talks over pensions broke down. The action is expected start on Thursday 22 February, lasting for two days, with members not turning up for lectures, seminars and so on. If strike action continues, it will be extended to three days the next week, four days the following week, before finally being five days a week. Proposals have been put forward
by the organisation representing UK universities which would see an end to guaranteed pensions and changing the system so pensions are based on investment performances rather than worker contributions. Speaking to Forge Press, SU President Kieran Maxwell and Education Officer Stuart McMillan explained the issue: “Throughout their careers, staff pay into this scheme in order to receive a stable pension once they retire. The proposals threaten to change this pension payout from a stable one based on how much staff pay in, to
one which is gambled on the stock market.” Members of the UCU voted at 61 universities, where turnout was over 50% during the balloting period. Dr Sam Brown, Communications Officer for the UCU and a professor at the University, said: “This problem is entirely of Universities UK’s making, and one that UCU have been doing everything they can to avoid for the past three years. “The last thing we want to do is disrupt students’ education. Member after member mention their students before anything else, but
tell us they’re not prepared to allow this unreasonable and unnecessary attack on their pensions pass by without challenge.” The UCU asked its members whether they supported strikes, and 88% supported the action while 93% supported action short of a strike. Education Officer Stuart McMillan said: “As students, it’s vital that we stand in solidarity with workers, so we’ll be doing everything we can in the coming months to support UCU’s action. An injury to staff is an injury to students, and the market forces attacking staff are the same
ones driving up our tuition fees and cutting vital funding for students.” Outside of the days when members are not on strike, they will not cover or reschedule classes from strike days, and they will not take on any voluntary work. In its final meeting of 2017, the Students’ Union Council unanimously voted to support the balloting for strike, and is continuing to support it now. (Read more from Kieran and Stuart in our Opinion section, page 12)