Anna was in her third year at Newcastle University and was working on her dissertation when she was abruptly informed that her lecturers would be striking in response to job cuts
A “stressed” final-year student in the middle of her dissertation received just £200 in compensation after her university lecturers walked out on strike.
Anna Nix, 22, was in her third year at Newcastle University when she was abruptly informed that her lecturers would be striking in response to job cuts.
The student lost five hours of teaching and was uncertain about the duration of the strikes. Although Anna understood their reasons, she confessed there wasn’t “much information” and it “added more stress to my final year.”
Students were compensated between £100 and £600, depending on the number of teaching hours disrupted by the strikes, which occurred between March and June.
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According to a Freedom of Information Request, Newcastle University has distributed £2.4million in compensation to 10,934 students, as of the end of July.
She told The Mirror: “It was quite stressful because I was in my final year of study and working on my dissertation. I of course completely understood the professors’ striking, however, it was stressful because we didn’t have much information.
“As negotiations with the UCU and the University were ongoing we weren’t sure how long the strikes would go on and how everything would be impacted. It was more significant as it added more stress to my final year.”
She added: “The lecturers I have spoken to about the strikes were very open about the situation and I always found support in them. I think in majority, from speaking to other students, we stood in solidarity with the lecturers and understood their difficult position. It was a stressful situation for both parties involved and we mostly hoped it would be resolved with the University quickly so it wouldn’t have too much of an impact on our teaching.
“I qualified for £200 as one of my modules was affected. I was grateful the University addressed the striking period and offered some compensation to its students. I did appreciate it.”
Strike action ceased at the end of June after staff were told there would be no additional job cuts until next year. More than 200 academics had already accepted voluntary redundancy, the university confirmed.
A Newcastle University spokesperson said: “We offered students compensation for missed teaching due to industrial action, which is in line with the latest directions to the sector from the Office for Students (OfS).
“Funds that were saved from unpaid salaries due to industrial action were redirected towards the compensation scheme.
“For each student, the offer was based on the number of modules that have been impacted and the tuition fee paid.”
Jo Grady, the general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), stated that if the university had ruled out job cuts, members wouldn’t have had to strike.
In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, she said: “There would have been no need to offer students refunds if university managers had listened to us, negotiated fairly and worked with us to resolve the dispute. Bosses across the country need to do the decent thing, rule out job cuts and pay staff fairly.
“Employers must recognise that below inflation pay awards are a real terms pay cut and an insult to hard-working higher education staff. It’s time to come back to the table with an improved offer and avoid the need for potential industrial action.”
