The Guardian: Librarians among university staff on strike across UK

Over 40,000 librarians, lecturers, technicians, and other staff have gone on strike, picketing 60 universities across the United Kingdom as of Monday, the Guardian reports. The strike, which is including lecturer's leading "teach-outs" for their students will continue for 8 days, but work to rule will remain in place indefinitely and a second strike could carry into the new year if demands are not met.

In the three weeks since the strike was announced 3,500 more workers petitioned to join the University and College Union (UCU) and the UCU has begun talks at other institutions to join the actions should they continue into the new year. Large support rallies were also held across the country.

At the heart of the strike is what UCU members and supporters see as the inflation of administrative salaries and benefits and "real estate deals" bringing private companies to campus while staff are forced to turn to food shelves, face homelessness, and are seeing their pensions gutted. Equal pay for women and staff from marginalized backgrounds has also been raised by strikers as an important issue.