Winning a change of heart at the University of East Anglia

COVID-19 has affected most areas of life – and higher education is no exception. When the University of East Anglia (UEA) found itself facing a £35m shortfall because of the pandemic, the employer asked staff to take voluntary pay cuts through reduced hours, and to consider voluntary redundancy. University bosses also wanted to impose a blanket pay freeze across all staff, delaying scheduled incremental rises for long service. But in late August, UEA agreed not to subject lower-paid staff to the increment freeze, and to continue working to avoid any compulsory redundancies. Why did things change? UNISON organises support staff at the university. Once the profound effect that the pandemic was going to have on the university became clear, branch secretary Amanda Chenery-Howes and workplace representative and communications officer Dylan Brook Davies (pictured above) – together with representatives from UCU and UNITE – were invited to weekly meetings with senior management. The vice-chancellor frequently attended, and discussion centred on the impact of COVID-19 on everything from working from home to the institution’s finances. It became clear that savings would be needed “It very quickly emerged that university finances were going to take a serious hit once the dust had settled and after the immediate impacts had been dealt with – students moving off campus, staff moving to work from home, exams being cancelled,” explains Ms Chenery-Howes. “A finance wo...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News Covid-19 higher education Source Type: news