UCU strikes are having an impact

Today the UCU agreed to meet Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) with the mediators Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) next Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 February to discuss our pay and working conditions dispute and hopefully a way forward. This is another clear sign that your magnificent support is working.

We have gone from a position where the employer was content to sit out the whole dispute to one where we have Universities UK (UUK) indicating that they could move on USS pensions, a fresh pay offer on the table and now discussions at Acas. None of the employers' positions at this moment represent something that we could deem acceptable but we have them back in the room and agreeing with us on crucial matters--you achieved that.

The UCU needs to walk into that room at Acas on Monday and Tuesday knowing that we have delivered the biggest and most powerful picket lines in our history. The employer needs to walk into Acas feeling under more pressure than ever.

So our message to you at Aston University is to keep supporting the strikes tomorrow and throughout the coming weeks: together, we can win.