Universities condemned over threat to dock all pay of striking staff

Queen Mary in London and Wolverhampton criticised for brutalising' stance against employees

Two universities have threatened striking academics that they will be docked all of their pay indefinitely" in a move that has been described by a union as brutalising staff into submission". The University and College Union (UCU) claims record numbers of its members, at 150 higher education institutions across the UK, went on strike on Thursday and Friday. More action is planned for Wednesday.

Academics expect to have their pay docked for the three days they are striking. However, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), a member of the prestigious Russell Group, and Wolverhampton University have caused outrage by threatening to continue docking 100% of academics' pay unless they reschedule all the classes they have missed.