The University of West London will be closed for 18 days across February and March as part of strike action from university staff. 

The University and College Union announced a strike of 18 days which will involve more than 70,000 staff across 150 universities due to disputes surrounding pay, working conditions, and pensions. 

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association offered a pay rise between 4 and 5%, which the UCU have rejected, as well as demanding that employers restore benefits and do away with the cuts that the UCU estimate will lose the average employee 35% of their guaranteed retirement income. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "Today our union came together to back an unprecedented programme of escalating strike action. The clock is now ticking for the sector to produce a deal or be hit with widespread disruption. 

"University staff dedicate their lives to education and they want to get back to work, but that will only happen if university vice-chancellors use the vast wealth of the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant insecure employment practices and devastating pension cuts.  

"The choice is theirs." 

This will mean that the University of West London, which has campuses in Ealing and Brentford, will be closed for the strike days as the university staff join in with the strike action.