As members will no doubt be aware a second day of strike action was held on Tuesday 3rd December 2013, jointly with UCU and Unite. We were also very grateful for support (and tea!) from a considerable number of members of Kent Union during the picketing and subsequent teach-in that day. Kent Union’s supportive position was made clear back in October: http://www.kentunion.co.uk/news/article/6001/Statement-on-University-Strike-Action/
Similar shows of solidarity have been evident on a number of other campuses around the UK and in some cases students have mounted occupations of University buildings in pursuit of their agenda (which overlaps significantly with that of the trade unions). http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/06/university-of-strife-john-harris
This resulted, in some instances, in aggressive and draconian responses from University managements. 100 police broke up peaceful demonstrations at the University of London, for example, and private security firms have been dragooned into confrontative and heavy-handed action against students there and elsewhere.
UCU have issued a statement which we are sure our members would agree with. As they point out, the actions being taken by students are in protest at the marketization of higher education: students are treated as customers (and tuition fee debtors) and in parallel with this university managements are determined to drive down costs to gain a competitive edge. Outsourcing core university functions and significant real terms cuts in staff pay are two of the direct effects of this.
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