University of Suffolk staff in Ipswich are at picket line for last day of University and College Union full strike
Some University of Suffolk students are 'likely' to have lost learning sessions due to the three-day strike that ends today.
Today is the final day of the full strike, but industrial action short of strike action (ASOS) - which includes working to contract and not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action - is ongoing.
Stuart Lipscombe, UCU branch chair at the University of Suffolk, said about 25 staff were on the picket line, at the university's Waterfront Building in Ipswich, on each of the full strike days on November 24 and 25 and the same number is expected today.
He said it was 'likely' there will have been an impact on students due to lost learning sessions, but he added: "It's disappointing we are being put in that position really. We would rather be in lectures and seminars and tutorials with students."
Mr Lipscombe, a lecturer at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, has worked at the University of Suffolk for about nine years as a lecturer.
As he himself was on short-term, fixed contracts for his first four years there, he said he understands how that feels, such as not being able to get a mortgage or plan for the future.
Regarding pay, he said in real terms they had taken a 25/28% pay cut over the last 13 years. University of Suffolk staff are also striking over pensions.
Mr Lipscombe also spoke of workload pressures, saying: "People are being asked to do more and more all the time. At the University of Suffolk we are very student-focused.
"We offer students an awful lot of support and rightly so, but there are also other aspects of the job that are not so student facing in regards to administration etc and the growing amount of workload there means there's less time to spend with students - and we love spending time with students."
He added staff were working an extra couple of days a week for free and 'students see this and they are supportive of us'.
The National Union of Students (NUS) has backed the strike action and Mr Lipscombe said students had been handing out leaflets at the picket line.
Others to also lend their support at the picket line include Royal Mail staff who are currently striking with CWU, the Communications Union.
Mr Lipscombe added: "We have had a really good number of colleagues on the line, but we also had a good number of others coming down to lend their support."
In total, more than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK are taking part in the three days of strike action.
A spokesperson for the University of Suffolk said: "The university respects the right of staff to take industrial action but resulting disruption to our students and their studies is always regrettable. Throughout the dispute we are doing all we can to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum.”
