In 1888, some 1,400 workers (predominantly women) walked out of the Bryant and May match factory in London. They were protesting the long hours, bad pay and dangerous working conditions, with many workers’ health affected by working with white phosphorus. The ‘Matchgirls’ strike’ provided an impetus for other working class labour activists to set up unions, leading to a wave known as ‘New Unionism’. The strike was to spread awareness of the conditions in the match factories and eventually brought the issue to Westminster.
Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, strike action has been prevalent amongst the working and middle classes as a means of bargaining for better pay and working conditions. There have been several famous strikes over the centuries in Britain, most notably the ‘Winter of Discontent’ (1978-79). The Winter of Discontent centred around strikes against unfair wage restrictions which would limit wage increases at 5% against inflation. The strikes included Ford Motor Company employees, goods transport drivers, and healthcare workers. While history wrongly remembers ‘bodies lining the streets,’ the Winter was not as sinister as memory permits – although history is written by the victor, in this case, by Margaret Thatcher who won the March 1979 General Election. However, the winter of 2022-23 has seen people suffer, with some asking, ‘is the UK really facing a second winter of discontent?’
This past winter has seen industrial action across key sectors of the economy. Royal Mail workers and rail workers have all gone on strike across the Christmas period. They are now joined by workers in education, particularly teachers and university workers. On 24th January, the University and College Union (UCU) voted for strike action across 150 UK universities, with 70,000 members walking out. The action is to last seven weeks and if completed will be the biggest series of strikes to ever hit UK university campuses.
The UCU is asking for an improved pay offer, to rise from the 4-5% offer previously received. This is to help support members during the cost-of-living crisis. The UCU is also calling for the end of the use of insecure contracts, which led to the termination of hundreds of contracts at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The UCU has argued that its members have lost an average of 35% from their guaranteed future retirement income. This figure more severely damages those who are earlier on in their careers. Universities have threatened to dock the pay of striking lecturers if they do not reschedule classes cancelled during industrial action, according to The Telegraph. In November 2022, Queen Mary University of London and Wolverhampton University threatened to continue docking 100% of academics’ pay unless all missed classes were rescheduled.
UCU general secretary, Jo Grady has stated that, “the university sector has over £40 billion sitting in reserves, but instead of using that vast wealth to deliver a cost-of-living pay rise and reverse devastating pension cuts, university vice-chancellors would rather force staff to take strike action and see campuses shut down.”
Realistically, it is students and early career researchers who are most affected by industrial action at universities. 40% of scheduled teaching will be lost across the seven strike weeks. For some doing one-year master’s degrees, that is a substantial loss. For lower-paid early career researchers, that equals two months of financial instability. However, these effects are avoidable and as much as strikes are necessary, they are disruptive to students and tutors alike. In the industrial action game, the power to end the strikes lies with management, but the power to enact change lies with the workers.
Inflation in the UK hit its highest rate in 41 years in October 2022 amid the cost-of-living crisis. Sky News identifies that 2022 saw the biggest annual fall in disposable income as well as a collapse in living standards. Household energy spending is up a record £900 from 2022 to 2023, foodbank usage has risen from 40,898 in 2009/10 to 2,173,158 in 2021/22 according to Statista, and consumer prices were 10.5% higher in December than a year before. Overall, wages do not go as far, and people are struggling.
Economies struggle in the aftermath of major world events: the Covid-19 pandemic, weak government, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is likely that things will economically get better for the public. Economist Tejvan Pettinger argues that several things can mitigate this crisis, including lower taxes on electricity and petrol, an energy rebate, and a cut in income tax. The strikes come at a time when workers’ wages are stretched and the overall quality of life across the UK is continuing to fall.
This writer is hopeful that the UCU strikes will be successful and will lead to an improvement of working conditions and pay in the Higher Education sector.
Written by: Emily Gee
Edited by: Daisy Jeffs
Sources cited:
Brain, Jessica, ‘The Match Girls Strike’, Historic UK (2021), https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Match-Girls-Strike/.
Clarence-Smith, Louisa, ‘University lecturers threatened with docked pay if they don’t reschedule strike classes’, The Telegraph (2023), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/13/university-lecturers-threatened-docked-pay-dont-reschedule-strike/.
Clark, D., ‘Number of people using food banks in the UK 2008-2022’, Statista (2022), https://www.statista.com/statistics/382695/uk-foodbank-users/.
Fazackerley, Anna, ‘Universities condemned over threat to dock all pay of striking staff’, The Guardian (2022), https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/nov/27/universities-condemned-over-threat-to-dock-all-pay-of-striking-staff.
Partington, Richard, ‘Is the UK really facing a second winter of discontent?’, The Guardian (2022), https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/08/is-the-uk-really-facing-a-second-winter-of-discontent.
Pettinger, Tejvan, ‘Policies to reduce cost of living crisis’, Economics Help (2022), https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/170554/economics/policies-to-reduce-cost-of-living-crisis/.
‘Rising cost of living in the UK’, UK Parliament (2023), https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9428/.
Snepvangers, Pieter, ‘All Leeds Uni strike dates confirmed, with 11 days in February and seven in March’, The Tab (2023), https://thetab.com/uk/leeds/2023/01/25/all-leeds-uni-strike-dates-confirmed-with-11-days-in-february-and-seven-in-march-57967.
‘The history of strikes in the UK’, Office for National Statistics (2015), https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/thehistoryofstrikesintheuk/2015-09-21.
‘The Winter of Discontent’, Cove (N/A), https://editions.covecollective.org/chronologies/winter-discontent.
‘University strike dates in February and March confirmed’, UCU (2023), https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/12759/University-strike-dates-in-February-and-March-confirmed.