“We are fighting to save every job at the University of Brighton – no ‘critical worker’ should be forced out of a job at a time of pandemic – and we are fighting for the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all.”
University of Brighton UCU are striking back against a wave of ‘restructuring’ and compulsory redundancies underway in IT services at the University. We took five days of action in December 2020 – the first strike undertaken by UCU members nationally since the pandemic – and we are now striking for five days at the start of the second semester from 8 to 12 February. The fact the local management at the University of Brighton are proceeding with trying to cut IT service jobs of all things in the middle of pandemic when we are rightly mostly teaching online signals that they have a plan to try to drive through further redundancies at the University. If we can defeat this attack, we could force management to rethink making further attacks in the near future. We are fighting to save every job at the University of Brighton – no ‘critical worker’ should be forced out of a job at a time of pandemic – and we are fighting for the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all.
“Our first wave of strike action was strengthened by the solidarity we received from students and other workers at Brighton University.”
The wider economic crisis resulting from the government’s disastrous handling of the pandemic is also now forcing other university and college managements onto the offensive against education workers. There are compulsory redundancies of academic staff at other institutions of higher education either being made or in the pipeline at a whole range of institutions including Goldsmiths, Leicester, Liverpool and Southampton Solent. However university managements are now also facing renewed levels of resistance from education workers fighting to put people before profits – and our fightback is taking place alongside rent strikes by students, who won a victory at Manchester. Rent strikes are now being organised elsewhere including here at Brighton.
“A victorious strike at the University… would give confidence to all those in the education sector fighting back”
Our first wave of strike action was strengthened by the solidarity we received from students and other workers at Brighton University, other UCU members and branches up and down the country, as well as the wider trade union movement locally and nationally. We have received thousands of pounds in donations for our hardship fund for strikers. We held a virtual joint rally on our picket line with strikers from Unite at Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick back in December, and their recent victory was an inspiration for everyone. A victorious strike at the University of Brighton against our management’s attempt to exert their power to hire and fire at will would give confidence to all those in the education sector fighting back – staff and students – as well as the wider trade union movement in Britain.
Christian Høgsbjerg, University of Brighton UCU Treasurer
Strike Map 