Higher education conference debates ongoing pay dispute

UNISON’s higher education activists met in Newcastle yesterday, for their first in-person conference since the onset of the pandemic. With workers experiencing “the worst cost of living crisis in 30 years”, pay was at the heart of their debates. Since 2009, pay for higher education (HE) staff has lost around 28% of its value, as a result of below inflation rises year on year. Soaring inflation in 2022 brought this situation to crisis point, leaving members in HE facing real hardship. The union remains in dispute over 2022/23 pay, after the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) imposed a 3% pay increase – a real terms pay cut – in August. Industrial action took place across 19 universities last year, with some branches continuing to take action this month, in a bid for a pay rise that keeps up with inflation. In the meantime, having called for an earlier than usual start to the 2023/24 pay round, the UCEA has again disappointed, with an offer last week that falls far short of the HE unions’ claim for £4,000 or RPI + 2%, whichever is greater. UNISON members are currently being consulted on that offer, with the SGE recommending they reject what is another real terms pay cut. Mobina Begum, chair of the higher education service group executive, updated delegates on recent developments, before introducing a motion that states the union’s pay demands for 2023/24. “Our work is not being valued by our employers,” she said. “We helped keep universiti...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Article News 2023 National Higher Education Conference higher education pay Source Type: news