University and College Union (UCU) members across Scotland and the rest of the UK have taken strike action in the first week of December. I have passed on my full support and solidarity.
I believe the way workers are treated in academia is shameful: staff pay has fallen by an astonishing 20% in real terms over the past decade. The precarious nature of the profession means a third of all staff are on fixed term contracts. Under UUK changes, they now face a 35% cut to their annual guaranteed pension. I support the union’s demands for a real terms pay uplift, the pension changes to be revoked and a nationally agreed framework to eliminate precarious employment in the sector once and for all.