London Socialist Historians Group
14th February
Contact: Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266
Historians send solidarity to UCU strikers: no home but the struggle
The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, has sent solidarity to UCU members who are resuming an extended period of strike action at 150 Universities.
The strikes focus on pay, pensions and working conditions and are part of 18 days of action in February and March.
The historians say that many Universities are involved in a race to the bottom akin to some of the worst private sector employers. While University leaders, Vice Chancellors, are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, many lecturers and other University staff are on precarious and low paid contracts.
Many of the behaviours of University employers reflect a move to the model of a Business University, first seen in the UK at Warwick University in the late 1960s and chronicled in Warwick University Ltd edited by E P Thompson (1970).
Redundancies in subject areas which are declared ‘uneconomic’ have become a feature as have employers using a variety of tactics to try and undermine legally balloted for strike action.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, many socialist historians will be out on strike today and on UCU picket lines. History is being written here. It’s vital that when future generations come to read that history they find it was a successful fight to defend jobs, pensions and a higher education system that is about people and learning not profit.
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