'Exploitation is a dirty secret of higher education – yet there’s plenty of money in the system.'

With half a million workers – including schoolteachers and civil servants – walking out on what was the biggest day of industrial action in the UK in more than a decade, the leaders of the trade unions involved in the strikes have had a busy week.

We take a look at three memorable moments by union general secretaries this week.

Kevin Courtney leaves Richard Madeley red-faced and ridiculed  

During an interview with NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney ahead of ‘Walkout Wednesday’ on GMB, Richard Madeley wanted to know if unions told members not to inform headteachers of their strike intentions. On the surface, the question seemed quite reasonable, but Madeley asked it in a strange robotic-like way, that even the writers of Alan Partridge would have struggled to come up with.

Courtney answered decisively and honestly that they had told members they had the right not to tell their employers because “we have obeyed every part of the very strong anti-union laws in this country” and that the right is there to “stop potential intimidation.”

Viewers were aghast at Madeley’s tone, even by his own standards, and the presenter was hit by complaints.

“Pompous, patronising Madeley. As usual, he came out worse for his appalling behaviour,” wrote one viewer.

Jo Grady gives rousing speech to UCU members and supporters on the picket line

Over 700,000 lecturers, cleaners, librarians, and other university staff are set to walk out for 18 days between now and April. On the picket line outside the LSE on Walkout Wednesday, Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), told crowds: “Today and next week and the days after that are crucial,” adding: “Solidarity forever, for the union makes us strong.”

According to Grady, “exploitation is a dirty secret of higher education – yet there’s plenty of money in the system.”

“Understandably, there are lots of other jobs that the media focuses on when it comes to strikes — people probably don’t think of university workers as being on the receiving end of pay cuts, but we are. Our pay has been cut by 25 percent, our pensions cut by 30 percent, and more than that we’ve got a sector that runs on exploiting insecure contracts. So if you go to a university or one of your friends or children do, they are probably being taught by someone on an insecure contract,” the UCU general secretary said.

‘The working class are back’

Meanwhile, Mick Lynch received praise for his powerful speech on the picket line this week. Speaking at the rally for the NEU in Westminster on Wednesday, the RMT general secretary said every worker needs a “square deal” as he hit out at the government for “trying to ban the working class.”

“Welcome to Westminster, the house of fools and the house of the corrupt,” he said.

“Last year, Grant Shapps, remember him? He’s still around. Lurking around all of these buildings here, running the government, telling Rishi Sunak what to do, trying to ban the working class.

“He was telling the media that the railway workers have got no friends, that we would be back at work, and how dare we ask for a pay rise when teachers can’t afford to live, when nurses are more deserving cases, when public-sector workers can’t get a pay deal.

“Our message then, as it is today, is every worker needs a pay rise, every worker needs a square deal,” Lynch continued.

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward

Image credit – Twitter screengrab

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