Sympathy with students but strike action a last resort for Magee lecturers

Lecturers at Magee College have defended their right to strike following a handful of dissenting student voices.

While student support for lecturers on the picket line at the Ulster University campus has largely been positive, a small number have expressed dissent at having their classes cancelled.

Ten selected days of industrial action have been voted on by the Universities and Colleges Union and scheduled in advance with the final walkout to take place at the beginning of March.

One of the lecturers, Dr Adrian Grant – who is both a historian and a lecturer in politics – says that he and his colleagues sympathise with those students missing out on their classes but this strike was only called as a last resort.

He said: “We are all aware that there is disruption to students as they are the main users of the university. So obviously, there will be an impact on students with this industrial action.

“But the way that we would put it is that there are major issues at play here that are having a big effect on the student experience.

“So the fact that there are hourly-paid lecturers, lecturers on lower incomes and intense workload stresses, means that the student experience in the long run is being more and more damaged every year.

^{Politics lecturer at Ulster University, Dr Adrian Grant}

“The strike is really where you come to a head – it's a last resort. We have been in dispute over pensions for almost ten years.

“We have been in disputes over other issues for four or five years and it gets to the point where there is no movement on the employer's side and that a strike is the only option.

“Unfortunately, that's where we're at. There's a very simple solution to that and that is for the employers to seriously engage with the University and College Union on these issues and bring this dispute to an end.

“I would say the vast majority of students have been really positive towards us out on the picket line.

“We have had students who have turned around and walked away from the picket line as they refuse to cross it. We've had others give us support and, I have to say in my own personal experience on the picket line, we've had one student who was a little bit upset about the fact that their lecture was cancelled.

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“We would encourage students not to cross the picket line at all but the students can use their own ethical judgement on that issue.”

For students worried about losing marks in assignments and exams because of missing lectures and tutorials, Dr Grant insists that lecturers will take into account the lost classes from the strike as mitigation for marking grades.

He added: “The main effect on the students is that the face-to-face teaching that they're engaged in with the lecturers has been cancelled for those designated strike days.

“Once we go back (next month), everything goes back to normal but there is a gap of content that has been missed.

“It's usually the case that a lecturer will take a decision not to assess the students on anything that they've missed and that there's no detriment to the students.

“The students won't suffer in terms of marks and outcomes because of the strike. There are also precedents for exams being altered or have topics relating to classes missed due to industrial action being taken out.

“We would be looking at that again I'm sure but it will be down to the University as well to look at the impact of the strike in the same way the pandemic had an impact on students.”

Meanwhile, People Before Profit have given their backing to the lecturers saying what is happening to them is part of what workers across society are going through.

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Cllr Shaun Harkin said: "We've been proud to join lecturers and support staff on the Magee picket line throughout the first week of their 10-day strike. The level of support from students, trade unions and the passing public has been great to see.

“University bosses have forced this strike because of their refusal to address the expansion of insecure zero hour contracts or step back from a major assault on workers pensions.

“Up to half of university lecturers are now on temporary or part-time contracts. Insecure work devalues education.

“When university management undermines the teaching conditions of their workforce it also undermines the learning conditions of students. That's why this strike is so important.

“In addition to the key issues of work insecurity and pensions, pay has been cut by up to 20 per cent over the last decade. There's been a general gutting out of respect for what's done in the classroom.

“What's happening in universities is part of a much broader running down of workers rights across society. University management has embraced an entirely corporate way of thinking that doesn't fit an educational setting. University workers and students are losing out while pay for top university management keeps escalating.”