News / University of Bristol
‘Nobody likes going on strike’
Picket lines appeared at University of Bristol buildings across the city on Thursday morning as hundreds of university staff went on strike in a dispute over pensions.
Having begun the day outside their own departments, the striking staff then gathered together outside the Wills Memorial Building as passing motorists honked their horns to show their support.
One of the largest groups had earlier congregated outside Senate House on Tyndall Avenue, where many of the university’s senior staff are based.
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“Nobody likes going on strike,” reader in law Sheelagh McGuiness told Bristol24/7 from the picket line outside the Wills steps, where both staff and some students had gathered.
Nearby, professor of company law Charlotte Villiers, who has worked at the University of Bristol since 2002, said that she was on strike not just because of the pensions issue, but also because of the growing commercialisation of the university sector and the increasing tuition fees.
She said: “We don’t want to be doing this. The last thing we want to do is hurt our students, but by definition a strike has to be disruptive and it’s a right that workers have.”
University of Bristol staff on the picket line. From left to right: Morag McDermot, Lois Bibbings and Charlotte Villiers
Thursday’s strike action is the first of 14 days of strikes due to stretch over the next four weeks.
More than 4,000 students have now signed a petition calling on the university to refund tuition fees for all those who lose lecturer contact time as a result of the action.
A University of Bristol spokesman said: “We support the right of our staff to take strike action and make their voices heard. We know that they will not have taken this decision lightly as they are dedicated staff who want to provide the best possible teaching for their students.
“We have no plans to provide financial reimbursement for any specific missed teaching sessions due to industrial action. Student tuition fees pay for a wide range of student facilities and services, in addition to tuition, which will continue to be available.”
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