The University and college union (UCU) have announced that staff at Falmouth University will take three days of industrial action over the decision by the university to employ all new academic staff through a subsidiary company, Falmouth Staffing LTD (FSL).

This comes after a vote back in august where 90% of UCU members in Falmouth who voted, said 'yes' to strike action. The university released a statement expressing their disappointment with the result and explaining their own decisions, "In challenging economic conditions, with a specific squeeze on small, specialist institutions like Falmouth, we must take steps to protect Falmouth's financial future, the student experience, and financial security for all our employees." 

UCU members will walk out for three consecutive days from Monday, October 17th until Wednesday, October 19th to defend the employment status of staff teaching at the university if management does not reverse its decision. A decision that no other university in the South West has taken.

In recent talks with the employer, UCU explained that employing staff under FSL is a threat to national bargaining arrangements between unions and the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). The proposed arrangement will make it harder for the union to represent members and is the beginning of an attack on hard-won national agreements. 

all new academic staff employed since September 2021 have been denied access to the Teacher's Pension Scheme (TPS), forced onto a vastly inferior private pension. The TPS scheme has employer contributions of 23.6% whereas the FSL scheme starts at only 6%.

Falmouth UCU branch co-chair Tom Scott said:

 "Our members are not taking industrial action lightly, but this is a serious issue not just for staff at Falmouth but also for our students. If management insists on employing staff under inferior conditions to those offered at other universities, and without the benefits that continuity of service offers academics elsewhere, this will quickly impact the university's ability to hire and retain the most talented lecturers and researchers."

"Staff should be properly employed by the university, not by a private subsidiary company that is able to evade national agreements on terms and conditions. It's not too late to avoid a strike, and we hope that management will think again about the implications of its decision to press ahead with a course of action that will damage the interests of both staff and students, as well as the university's reputation." Tom Scott added.