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Pensions

The strike in black and white

Published: 10th December, 2019

How valued are the people who make universities? Meanwhile here are some beautiful photographs shot by Jacob, recipient of one of our awards for outstanding services to the strike.

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 7 [Under Pressure]

Published: 3rd December, 2019

And on the seventh day we rested… in fact, wanted to rest, but instead we decided to showcase the issues that have brought us to the point of exhaustion, particularly the excessive workloads and job insecurity that represent two of the four pillars of UCU’s “Four Fights” dispute. The #ExhaustionRebellion hashtag was started by our…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 6 [Danger! High Voltage!]

Published: 2nd December, 2019

As the industrial action carried on into its second week, and temperatures plummeted below zero, Leicester UCU warmed the cockles of striking staff with a disco theme on the picket lines, and much more besides. We received many visits of support throughout the day from students and bringers of cake, and we were especially pleased…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 5

Published: 29th November, 2019

Raise the Rafters: THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE! Day 5 on the UCU Leicester picket line and what a day it was. The official theme of the day was the Great Picket Bake Off, but unofficially, today was about singing, dancing, chanting and protest. As for the formal theme, there were delicious brownies, on-brand…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 4

Published: 28th November, 2019

Day four dawned with an initial feeling of the “the morning after the night before” – it was raining heavily for the first time, and we were worried. However, we should know by now, we didn’t need to have worried, as always Leicester UCU brighten up our day, with nearly 200 members turning out to…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 3

Published: 27th November, 2019

Today saw animals of all shapes and sizes unleashed on the Leicester UCU picket lines! Fierce foxes, passionate penguins and more delightful dogs than you can count supported strikers with love and wagging tails! All were here to support our message to the university management: get your paws off our pay and pensions! Whilst every…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 2

Published: 26th November, 2019

Having been featured as part of the face of the current strike on BBC News yesterday, Leicester UCU again came out in force, despite the rain, to protest in defence of our pensions and pay against a decade of steady decline, and to fight back against excessive workloads, casualisation of our professions and pay inequality…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 1

Published: 25th November, 2019

Roll back to 16th March 2018 – the final day of 14 days on the picket line and it felt like we had unfinished business. In fact, one of our picket lines even made the point that they’d be back in chalk on the pavement outside the University. And today we were back – boy…

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Leicester votes YES – and YES and YES and YES!

Published: 31st October, 2019

We’re proud and very pleased that members of Leicester UCU have voted decisively in favour of strike action (and action short of a strike, ASOS), both to defend our USS pensions and in support of our pay-and-equalities claims. More than half our eligible members voted in both ballots, giving us a legal mandate to take…

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USS: Enough already

Published: 26th September, 2019

Not quite sure what’s going on with your pension? (Understandable as it’s complicated and a lot has happened.) If so watch this terrific 13-minute presentation by USS negotiator Sam Marsh of Sheffield UCU.

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