Cambridge University staff plan 10-day Strike Action in May
Nearly 600 Cambridge University staff are set to take strike action across 10 days in May over pay and a proposed local weighting. The stoppages run on May 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28 and 29.
Workers in libraries, museums, estate management, finance, student services and IT are included. Unite says the dispute is about introducing Cambridge weighting, a pensionable local pay supplement for all staff, and a full pay review to address wage compression at lower grades.
Sharon Graham on Cambridge pay
Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary, said Cambridge University needs a local pay supplement and that the union will not back down until it happens. She said: "Cambridge University is sitting on billions of pounds but the workers who keep it running are struggling to keep their heads above water due to the incredibly high cost of living in the city."
She added: "Oxford University has introduced a local pay supplement to ensure workers can afford to live; Cambridge needs to as well. Unite will not back down until that happens."
Cambridge and Oxford weighting
Cambridge has offered a 1.4% pay increase for 2025 to 2026, which Unite describes as a real terms pay cut. Staff currently receive a 2.5% interim payment that can be removed at any time. The union is pressing for a pensionable local supplement rather than a temporary payment.
The Oxford example gives the campaign a concrete comparison. Oxford introduced a local pay supplement in 2024, giving staff £1,500 extra per year, and increased that weighting to £1,730 in 2025.
Museums and libraries
The May action follows strike action in late April and early May that caused full or partial closures of many museums and libraries, including the Fitzwilliam Museum and Haddon Library. The Fitzwilliam Museum, which has been shortlisted for Museum of the Year, will have judging postponed until after the strikes.
For visitors and staff, the immediate issue is not the dispute in the abstract but the repeated disruption across named services. With museums, libraries, estate management, finance, student services and IT all involved, the stoppages reach far beyond one campus office and are spread across the Whitsun half term period.
May 29 at Cambridge
The university had net assets of £8.26 billion at July 2025 and generated a net return of 9.1% in 2024. Those figures sit alongside the union's argument over pay, but the next step is practical rather than financial: the strike action begins on May 13 and continues on the remaining listed dates through May 29.
Anyone planning to use Cambridge museums, libraries or other affected services on those days will need to plan around repeated closures and partial closures, because the stoppages are already scheduled on 10 separate dates.
