Brighton college and university lecturers due to strike tomorrow

College and university lecturers in Brighton are due to take part in a national strike tomorrow (Tuesday 3 December).

They are also holding a protest march in the centre of town and a demo on the seafront.

Sussex University, Brighton University and City College Brighton and Hove are expected to be affected.

The University and College Union (UCU) said: “Staff will be on picket lines from 7.30am and will then make their way to Victoria Gardens in Grand Parade.

“From there they will set off at 1.15pm to a protest at the Holiday Inn (formerly the Bedford Hotel) on the seafront.

“Lecturers will present ‘speed lectures’ on a host of educational issues until 4pm.

“They are angry that, as the cost of living has risen, lecturers’ pay has been slashed in real terms since 2009.

“University staff first walked out on (Thursday) 31 October when members of UCU, Unison and Unite took strike action.

“Lecturers at further education colleges in England will be taking their first day of strike action also in a row over pay.

“Staff in universities were offered a 1 per cent pay rise this year despite their pay plummeting by 13 per cent in real terms in the last four years.

“Lecturers in further education colleges in England rejected a pay offer of just 0.7 per cent from their national employers which means their pay has been cut by 15 per cent in real terms since 2009.

“UCU’s negotiators for both college and university lecturers have offered to clear their diaries in an effort to resolve the dispute before tomorrow’s strike and the union says it hopes disruption can be avoided.”

UCU regional official, Michael Moran, said: “Staff in universities and colleges are taking strike action to say enough is enough.

“They have seen their pay slashed in real terms since 2009 and this year’s miserly pay offer, at a time of rising bills, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Staff love their jobs, but their goodwill cannot continue to be taken for granted.

“Nobody wants to take strike action and lose a day’s pay but we feel we have been left with no alternative.”

Sussex Police warned that traffic may be disrupted in the centre of Brighton and on the seafront during the march and demo.