I Support the Strike, and here are all the reasons that you should too

Thursday 22nd of February marks the beginning of industrial action to be taken by staff across the board at QUB and in universities across the country. Many of our lecturers and members of staff from other areas of the university are coming together to take action against the changes to pensions. Today I will be joining my lecturers on the picket line, and I hope some of you will too. 

For those who may still be confused as to exactly why this is happening, here is everything you need to know:

The dispute comes as proposals to end the defined benefit element of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme have been forced through by universities who claim they are 'reducing the risk' of collapse of the current pension scheme (which is under an infinitesimally minute amount of risk, so little as to be no risk at all). UCU says this would leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 a year worse off in retirement than under the current set-up. 

The new scheme would see a defined pension scheme - where pensions are based on the contributions of staff scrapped in favour of a scheme that would see the pensions of younger university staff at the mercy of the markets, or that is to say, their pensions would depend entirely on how investments perform, rather than their contributions. 

These changes are not only putting the futures of your lecturers on the line, they are a threat to anyone who wishes to pursue an academic career. Older lecturers will not be affected by these changes, whilst those who are relatively new to the profession, and all new academics will see their pensions being gambled on investment markets, with absolutely no guarantee of a defined sum upon retirement. 

So why am I joining the picket-line?

I am part way through my masters, and planning my PhD proposal because I hope to become an academic and give back some of the knowledge I have gained thus far. Yes, I am missing some lectures as a result of this strike, but I do not blame the staff for this inconvenience. In fact, I thank them for it. Because if they did not stand up, then they would be allowing the UUK to take away my future and any stability I may have had on my career path. If you want to continue your studies and follow an academic career, then these lecturers are striking for your future, not only their own - many of them will already have amassed some savings for their pension. They strike today because of the total disparity of this system and the havoc it would bring to academia. Because it targets the young and future academics who already bear the burden of excessive fees and debts. 

So when you find yourself feeling irritated by the state of affairs, remember that the administration of this university could stop all these strikes if they were only reasonable and would return to the table to offer a more reasonable solution than the wholesale destruction of defined pension schemes. 

Even if you can't join the picket line in support today, there are other things you can do to support lecturers: write them an email, tell them you understand and support their taking action. Write to the Vice Chancellor's office and tell them that you support the strikes and oppose these (frankly disgusting) changes to the pension schemes. Request compensation or a refund for lectures/classes missed as a result of industrial action and be sure to assert that you place responsibility with the administration and not the lecturers. We have all received the emails from the university administration trying to shirk blame by stating that QUB does not support the strikes. This is my response:

QUB is its staff. Lecturers and librarians and everyone in between keep this university running, create interest, research, papers, lectures. The heart of this university is its staff who are out on the picket line today defending our futures, the futures of academics across the country. And the administration are busy penny pinching and sending out emails in an attempt to cause division and antagonism against this very heart of QUB. I will not accept this. I will support my lecturers and I will join the picket line in defence of my own future and that of academia. 

By Amy Pointer