Britain .. Academics strike universities in the electoral race

Mohammed Badawi-London

The wave of strikes led by the Union of Universities and Colleges in Britain, which confused university routine for a week and a half nationwide, ended today with strikers raising demands for a poor contracting system, fair pay for gender and ethnic minorities, and a call for pension reform. .

Today's activities at the University of Birmingham ended with a student solidarity march with support from regional organizations such as the "Rebellion Against Extinction" movement and the student wing of the opposition Labor Party.

According to the University and Colleges Association, the salaries of academics are frozen at the status quo ante since 2009, without a direct increase in proportion to inflation rates, which constitutes a realistic loss of 20%.

The burdens of academics
On the other hand, academics bear heavier workloads than were contracted, with no controls due to staff resorting to unproven contracts, which in themselves are of concern to young academics, especially females. In addition, the salaries of university CEOs are increasing. For example, the annual salary of Birmingham University Chief Executive David Eastwood has reached £ 420,000.

Regarding the pension file, the protest came as employees ignored the neutral committee's conclusions on the structure of the pension fund system after negotiations last year. The Union of Universities and Colleges says the pension rate could rise from 8.8% to 11.1% by 2021, unless any Appropriate procedures.

The strikers' protest methods varied, ranging from stands at the gates of Birmingham University during the opening hours in order to incite the public to enter, and organized a group stand in front of the university train station.

Some professors have given open lectures in pubs around the campus, where there is an opportunity to "express their real opinion about their disciplines outside the classroom," as professor of constitutional law at the university, Alan Green, points out.

The goal of politics
As British parliamentary elections set for December 12, the strikes of academics have turned into a predominantly leftist political debate, with Birmingham University international law professor Javier Escuriatza blaming modern liberalism "devoted to ego and lust for money." Individuals, and discouraged them from taking collective demands into account. "

In the mass rallies, slogans against the policies of the ruling Conservative Party and its leader, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were raised, and the University of Birmingham administration received harsh criticism for opening a branch in Dubai, due to what protesters saw as a "black record" of the UAE in the field of human rights.

On the other hand, the Labor Party, the largest opposition party, took advantage of the protest situation in the universities in favor of its election campaign, as some party deputies attended the stops, renewing their promises led by party leader Jeremy Corbin, who had pledged comprehensive reforms to achieve social justice and eliminate racial and sexual discrimination. In addition to his bold promise to cancel tuition fees for university.

Foresight and escalation
Responding to the question of "what comes after the strike?", The professors spoke cautiously optimistic, mixed with the expectation of a new escalation this year. Despite the formation of negotiations committees on the pension system and the payment of salaries, "bureaucratic pioneers will do all they can to kill the demands by delay Fiona de Londres, a specialist in global legal studies at the University of Birmingham, says.

Mr Green expects a new escalation to erupt any time this year if those who ignore the demands are ignored. Professor Merrid Enright, a specialist in feminist legal theory, has urged students to press the University of Birmingham chief executive to take serious steps to resolve the crisis.

Inwright also called on students to address the rector with a view to partially reimbursing tuition fees following the strike, and slogans were raised in the student march calling for the resignation of Rector Eastwood.

In conjunction with the end of the protests, the polls of the upcoming elections have been shaken. UGOV polls indicate a relative progress for Labor, narrowing the gap between it and the Conservative Party, which is remarkably comfortable.

With the global wave of anti-government institutions, any party may bring surprises in elections or alliances, with observers predicting an alliance between Labor and the Scottish National Party.