Staff from Newcastle and Durham University, who are part of the University and College Union (UCU), have embarked on 10 days of strike action from today over pensions and pay.
UCU members formed picket lines outside the two universities as they joined the nationwide strike over cuts to pensions and deteriorating pay and working conditions.
Members of the union said they've seen a "slide into corporate-mania" over recent years and that the choices made by university management have left them "at breaking point".
Go here for the very latest breaking news updates from across the North East
In total, staff at 44 universities began strike action today after university employers refused to withdraw cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) or accept UCU's compromise proposals which would have seen staff and employers pay slightly more to protect benefits and resolve the pension dispute.
Last week the pension scheme trustee USS, which runs the scheme, confirmed UCU's proposals are viable and implementable.
Universities UK proposals, which will see 35% cut from the guaranteed retirement income of members, are set to be formalised on 22 February.
Matt Perry, chair of Newcastle UCU, said: "This isn't just about the cut to pensions, its about casualisation.
"We are increasingly seeing universities use insecure contracts, especially for young staff members, which is totally unnecessary. That's paired with increased pressure on staff who are working well above their contracted hours.
"There's also the hike in the cost of living to think about. We have a pay offer that's below inflation, but also a wide gap in wages dependent on gender and ethnicity.
"We are at breaking point - and it's coming at a real cost to people's health. If we're frazzled, the students feel that.
"It's important that we exercise intergenerational solidarity and come together to defend our profession."
Vice chair of UCU branch, history professor Graham Smith, said: "We believe that learning conditions are really determined by our working conditions.
"It's not ideal to be standing out here in the rain rather than teaching, but we need to do something to show that the current situation isn't working.
"Over the last few years we have slid into some kind of corporate mania, where the idea of making money is the primary objective.
"I went into the profession to teach and to conduct research, but both are becoming more difficult as workloads intensify."
He added: "The response we've received from students is very heartening. This is not a particularly radical student union, but they've come out in support of the strike."
Newcastle student union voted 53.3% in favour of the strike action at a recent referendum.
First year engineering student , Samir Akhter, was on campus this morning and told the Chronicle: "My professor turned up for my first lecture, so I haven't been impacted so far.
"We're told that the professors don't have to let us know whether they are striking, so I won't know until the day.
"I'm not completely clued up on the strike, but I'm supportive of them taking a stand if their pensions are being reduced.
"I hope the picket will work and the issue can be resolved."
Fran Dalton, a second year student, said: "Fair play to the lecturers who want more money for the work they do - it's very reasonable.
"But we already pay a lot as students and we feel that money should have been better allocated by management.
"My anger at missing out on lectures is aimed towards those making the decisions."
Students across the North East have banded together to support university staff in the region as they undertake strike action.
'North East Student Solidarity' is a new organising force with student members spanning from Leeds to Newcastle, who have come together to bring "victory to the University and College Union (UCU)".
19-year-old Joshua Freestone is a second year Politics and Philosophy student at Durham University.
He said members of the region-wide group were inspired to come together after the UCU "showed up" for students in the wake of the Tim Luckhurst walk-out row at Durham and student rent strikes.
"When college Principal Tim Luckhurst invited the provocative journalist Rod Liddle to an event, it really hurt the student community" Joshua explained. "The UCU were some of the first to lend support, and that really fostered solidarity between staff and students.
"It was the same with the rent strikes, and now we want to give them support too."
He continued: "A handful of us realised that most other regions around the country have an interconnected student solidarity group, whereas the North East hasn't traditionally had that kind of communication between universities.
"We want to coordinate our efforts now, and facilitate conversation about how students can best support the aims of the UCU."
Next Monday, February 21, strike action over pay and working conditions will also start with 24 further universities joining the action, including Northumbria University.
Altogether, more than 50k staff are expected to walkout with well over a million students set to be impacted by the strikes.
A Newcastle University spokesperson said: “We know that decisions to undertake industrial action are not taken lightly.
"However, coming on the back of the ongoing disruptions created by Covid-19, the impact of any industrial action will be significant for both students and colleagues who are not part of the action and we are making every effort to minimise the disruption.
“We are working hard to address casualisation at Newcastle University and are committed to improving the environment of our fixed-term and casual workers. We do not engage our employees on zero-hour contracts.
“In January 2021, a new fixed-term policy was introduced which goes beyond current legislation, while over the past two years we have worked to reduce the number of colleagues on these contracts and actively converted to open ended contracts in line with our new policy – we will continue to do this.
A spokesperson for Durham University, meanwhile, responded with: “Industrial action is taking place as part of a national dispute over pensions and pay which affects nearly 70 universities around the UK. As a member of Universities UK (UUK) and University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), we are bound by sector-wide decisions on pay and pensions.
“We cannot resolve these disputes locally; all negotiations take place between representatives of UUK, UCEA and UCU and so our influence in this dispute is limited.
"We can only seek to mitigate any impact on students, which is our primary focus. We do, however, have regular meetings with UUK and have used these to press on issues of concern to our staff.
“Durham University offers a generous reward and benefits package, to attract and retain the very best people.
"The package remains highly competitive, and we regularly review and improve our employment benefits and practices to ensure we remain a responsible and attractive employer for our staff. Our joint work with UCU on casualisation is an example of this.”
For the latest local news in your area direct to your inbox every day, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
