As students, we have invested a lot of time and money into our degrees, and increasing student debt is a serious problem experienced by students. The factor that makes this acceptable is that we receive the experience/product that we are promised, and that we are guided in our academic journey by lecturers who have the support they deserve to provide us with quality learning. Unfortunately, staff strikes have stopped our learning, and the university has failed to accommodate that, leaving us out of pocket and missing out on crucial learning material. This is unacceptable that the university is not supplying us with what we have paid for. We have discussed the issue with the "Student Union", which operates as a subsidiary of the university system and has no interest in looking out for students and is acting to protect the university and themselves. They are money driven and not driven to provide the best experience for us, the students. 

We demand as students that we are compensated for all value lost to our education until the lecturers' demands are met.   

These are demands quoted from staff correspondence.   

1) A pay rise in line with inflation. Relative to the cost of living, our pay has fallen 25% in the past decade.   

2) Pension cuts reversed. Our pensions have been cut to the point that we will struggle to retire.  

3) Reasonable workloads in line with our contracts. We are exhausted and regularly work evenings and weekends to cope with the demands of our job (well beyond our contracted 37 hours/week).  

  

4) End to insecure contracts. Many of our colleagues are employed on zero-hour contracts with no security and are paid only hourly for teaching (not paid to respond to emails or engage with the other aspects of the job).  

  

5) End to inequality. We need to end the pay gaps, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace.   

 

We stand beside the staff in their strike action and demand that the consequences of the poor management decisions be felt by those who made them, and not those whom they were made despite of, the staff and students. UWE staff striking through the 17 strike days will not be paid a salary, so the university is making a profit off of our lost learning, and to make this worse, they push the narrative that this is a staff vs dispute and refuse to take any responsibility. The staff fully support this appeal, and supporting us supports them. 

A lecture/seminar costs approximately a student £34.26 an hour. Think how much that is costing you already and how it will cost if strikes need to continue. 

We must stand together in solidarity against the powers that be, as they will not look out for our shared interests.  

 

Sign the petition and support yourself and your lecturers.  

 

For any questions from students or staff, email henry2.rowett@live.uwe.ac.uk or benjamin2.jane@live.uwe.ac.uk