University Shut Down During National Strike

Protesters in London making a stand against education cuts

Lecturers at Sheffield Hallam University went on strike today in an attempt to make their pensions more secure.

The strike took place across Sheffield city centre and involved students and lecturers from Sheffield University as well as those from Hallam.  Throughout the day, petitions were signed and protests were held.  So many people made a stand against education cuts and pension rises that by lunch time, two of Hallam's buildings were shut down completely.

When walking through the university, there was an eerie silence.  The normal routes through the campus were empty compared to a normal day where you cannot walk straight through without having to move out of people's way.  Instead of walking past hundreds of people I walked past just 5 and they did not seem very eager to study.

Although the strike focused on the lecturer's pensions on the day, press releases and leaflets given out throughout the previous week focused on the government's proposed increase in tuition fees and cuts in education fees such as EMA.  This led to a mass protest involving both students and lecturers.

Not every teacher's pension was under threat as it is only the University and College Union that is proposing change.  The Government is contemplating major cuts to the value of the Teacher's Pension Scheme as well as increasing employee contributions.  This means that teachers will be paying more money into the scheme and getting less out of it.

In 2010 the UCU began to try to reach a national agreement concerning job security.  In both further education (FE) and higher education (HE) there were disputes over pay as FE were offered an increase of 0.2% and HE were offered 0.4%.

Sheffield Hallam lecturer Alan Patterson, said: "We need to make the university aware how disconcerted we are.  We have already had a review but they are still asking for more money.  It is just not good enough."

Fellow lecturer Dr David Clarke, said: "There is no justification for it.  I worked as a freelance journalist for 20 years with no pension.  I expected teaching to have more security."

As a part of its programme cuts, the government is demanding cuts of up to £852 million from the Teachers Pension Scheme.  They propose to increase the average payment for around £100 a month.  Lecturers will also be expected to work longer as the retirement age will be moved up to 65.  They plan on changing how they measure the inflation on pensions which could lead to a loss for FE £36,000 and for HE £65,000 over the course of their retirement.

No if's, no buts, no education cuts

Although a lot of people turned up to help with the protest, there is another side to the story.  Whilst all the lecturers were outside, university students were missing their lectures.  Whilst some students enjoyed the thought of having a day off, others were getting nervous as deadlines were getting ever closer.

Laura Griffiths, a Hallam student taking Communications, said: "I travelled all the way to Sheffield from Nottingham only to find that my lecture has been cancelled.  I needed to talk to my lecturer about an assignment which is due in soon.  I'm not happy about this I think they are being a bit selfish."

Executive Assistant to the Pro Vice Chancellor, Michelle Elliot said when asked about university lecturers on strike. "I can see that they have a point of view.  I think they should think of students and how it affects their university experience." She went on to say that she could see no positive outcome from the strike as the lecturers need to get their message through to the government or their university scheme specifically. 

Protesting outside the door of the university would not accomplish anything as there was no one within the university who could do anything about it.  "At the end of the day it is important to have job security but are they damaging the universities reputation in order to get their point across?"

Technical Services Operator Philip Slingsby, said: "I am aware of the strike and why they are doing it.  What people don’t see is that people like us have to make cuts all the time.  We have to always do what is best for the students but the lecturers don’t see this side of things.  The strike is totally misplaced.  A much more effective way of making their point would be to travel to London on Saturday. I personally think they have thrown in tuition fees to get people on side."

On Saturday 26^th March the Trades Union Congress is holding a national demonstration in London.  This will be a march for the alternative: jobs, growth, justice, focusing on the opposition of Government spending cuts.  Young people, students, workers, service users and pensioners are expected to attend.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT EDUCATION CUTS AND STRIKES TO IMPROVE EDUCATION IN THE FUTURE?