UK union says final pay offer of 1.5 per cent rise ‘unacceptable’

UK universities’ final pay offer promising a minimum rise of 1.5 per cent for the next academic year has been branded “unacceptable” by a union, as tensions between staff and employers continue to rise.

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents 146 higher education institutions, said that the final offer for the 2021-22 academic year was “a significant improvement” on the opening offer of 1.1 per cent, and that employers had moved twice over the course of this negotiating round.

The new offer would also mean that higher uplifts would be made to those on the lower pay scales, rising to a maximum of 3.6 per cent. About half the staff covered by the negotiations are eligible for additional progression pay increases ranging from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent, employers said.

However, the University and College Union said that the offer was “unacceptable” given the “extraordinary efforts” staff had made during the pandemic.

The union had asked for a pay uplift of £2,500 on all pay points and a minimum wage of £10 per hour for all contract types, rising to £10.85 in London. The union also wanted assurances on equality, including addressing the gender and racial pay gaps, job security and workload.

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said that the 1.5 per cent increase “risks forcing low-paid university staff out of the sector”.

“Staff have gone above and beyond for their students during a pandemic in which student intake and finances have held up well,” she said. “But employers refuse to recognise and reward the extraordinary efforts staff have made, or the risks they have faced to their safety to deliver in-person teaching. Instead, university managers remain as ideologically devoted to suppressing staff wages as they have been for the last decade.”

Dr Grady added that last year university staff voted in “unprecedented numbers for industrial action in pursuit of fair pay, secure contracts, and sustainable workloads” and they did so “because they believe their students and their colleagues deserve better”. 

UCU will decide its next steps, including on industrial action, at its higher education conference on 2 June.

Tensions are rising between staff, unions and employers across the UK. Vice-chancellors and staff are again at loggerheads over how to handle a proposed increase in contributions to the Universities Superannuation Scheme pension fund, and staff at both the universities of Liverpool and Leicester have voted in favour of industrial action in rows over job cuts. 

The latest sticking point comes as negotiations for the 2020-21 pay round also remain unresolved. The union has rejected a proposed pay freeze, which employers said was necessary in the wake of the financial fallout from the Covid-19 crisis. UCU said that it would also make a decision on how to respond at the upcoming conference.

Mark Smith, chair of Ucea and vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton, said employers “recognise the tremendous contribution made by staff across all HEIs through the pandemic”.

“This is an offer that some of our HE institutions will find financially challenging, but all employers are consistent in their commitment to arrive at a pay outcome that is decent and sustainable. We held detailed discussions and responded to relevant elements of the trade unions’ claim, constructively exploring these within a context of increasing costs, uncertainty and significant financial constraint,” he said. “We ask that the trade unions will allow their members to carefully consider this offer.”

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com