Student's suffer as striking commences

Strikes at University of Kent

Lecturers at the University of Kent today start their two-day strike in a dispute over pensions.

The staff at both the Canterbury and Medway sites are protesting against proposed changes to their retirement schemes, which will cut benefits to existing members of staff and past employees.

The ‘University and College Union’, the union in which the staff are members of, have said that they were hopeful of the strike being avoided. However, workers have rejected the opportunity to talk about the University Superannuation Scheme and will carry out the strike.

Employees are said to have the support of students, even though it could affect them at this crucial time of the year.

Sarah Houghton, a third year student at Kent, explained how it could affect her work: “I understand that they have their rights, so I do agree with the strike but the timing of it is really bad. I am in my final few months and this could affect my overall grade.”

Alex Powers, a first year business student, said he was happy that staff were ‘standing their ground’. “It’s not an ideal time to strike but the whole year is important, so there was never going to be a good time to protest.”

Follow the link to the university’s website to keep up to date on any developments.