Socialist Appeal - UCU strike in Cambridge

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UCU strike in Cambridge

By Adam Booth (Unite, Cambridge)

Friday, 25 March 2011

Members of the UCU in Cambridge, at Cambridge University, Anglia Ruskin University, and Cambridge Regional College, were out on strike on Tuesday 22^nd and Thursday 24^th March, in a dispute over pensions, pay, and jobs.

Over the two days of picketing, UCU members of Cambridge University targeted the Old Schools building – the administrative nerve centre of the University – which has become a renowned target for demonstrations and occupations over the last four months.

With the sun shining on both days, UCU members seemed in good spirit, as refuse collections and parcel deliveries were turned away at the picket lines and leaflets were handed out to passers by. Unfortunately it was outside of term-time, and thus most students were not around; nevertheless, many students who were still in Cambridge joined UCU members on the picket lines to show solidarity.

The two days of strike action co-incidentally straddled a visit to the Old Schools building by Prince Phillip, the Chancellor of Cambridge University, on the Wednesday. Prince Phillip returned to the Old Schools along with police protection during Thursday’s strike action, and was greeted by heckles from UCU members and supporters as he broke through the picket line.

The strike action ended on the Thursday with a rally at the picket. Members of various other unions, including the NUT and Unite, spoke and gave solidarity to UCU members. The contributions of the speakers emphasised that attacks on pay, pensions, and jobs were not unique to UCU members, but are something we are seeing across the public sector as the coalition government tries to make ordinary people pay for a crisis of capitalism. People were encouraged to attend the rally on 26^th March, and demands for the TUC to call a general strike were warmly met.

Above all, it was emphasised that we should seek to emulate the example of workers and youth in the Arab countries, who are leading the way in the revolutionary fight against oppression and exploitation, and who have demonstrated to even the most hardened cynics the potential power of ordinary people when they are united in struggle.

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