LONDON (Reuters) -Staff at dozens of universities in Britain have called off a planned strike next week after many employers agreed to end pay deductions linked to previous industrial action, the University and College Union (UCU) said on Friday.
Strikes originally planned at 140 universities later this month will now only take place in 52, the UCU said.
Staff at universities around the country have taken part in a six-month long marking and assessment boycott in an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions this year which saw classes, exams and graduations disrupted.
While the boycott has now ended, the union had been in dispute with universities about pay deducted from its members who took part in that industrial action.
The UCU, which represents more than 120,000 staff, began balloting staff this week to renew its strike mandate over the pay dispute, in order to continue strike action into 2024.
“Renewing our mandate and keeping the pressure on is the way we will win this dispute,” UCU General Secretary Jo Grady said.
The Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which negotiates pay on behalf of 144 higher education institutions, implemented a pay rise of 5%-8%. But the UCU says staff have seen a 25% pay cut since 2009.
University staff have been among hundreds of thousands of workers across Britain who have taken industrial action over the past year as high inflation leads to demands for better pay.
(Reporting by Farouq Suleiman, writing by Sachin Ravikumar, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)