The Students’ Guild has released a statement on the upcoming UCU strike, in which it describes being “sympathetic to the views of both sides”.
The Guild also describes itself as being “concerned by the likely impact this will have on students at Exeter, especially those in their final year or who teach as part of their studies.” Further, it “intends to hold both parties to account for any impact on the Exeter student experience.”
The press release, which refuses to lend explicit support for either side during the strike, is in contrast to a Large Idea currently live on the Guild website, titled “The Guild should support the upcoming University and College Union (UCU) strike action.” Voting will close on the Idea on 14 February, and a minimum of 475 students must vote in order for it to be quorate.
The UCU’s Exeter branch, along with those at 60 other universities across the UK, authorised strike action in response to a pension dispute. If no deal is made, then academics belonging to the union will walk out for a total of 14 days, beginning with a two day stoppage from 22-23 Feburary.
The full Guild statement can be read below:
This week the University and Colleges Union (UCU) announced that there will be 14 days of escalating strike action over 4 weeks and other industrial action following the proposed changes to the University Pension Schemes.
The Students’ Guild is aware of the situation and is concerned by the likely impact this will have on students at Exeter, especially those who are in their final year or who teach as part of their studies. The Guild sympathetic [sic] to the views of both sides of the dispute, and hopes that an agreement will be reached quickly with minimal impact on all students.
The Guild intends to hold both parties to account for any impact on the Exeter student experience, working hard to ensure that any impact is mitigated against and monitoring the situation as it develops.
If anyone has any further questions or queries, please do get in touch with the Students’ Guild on ucustrike@exeterguild.com.
