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USE YOUR VOTe - pay ballot ends 10 October

Ballot on industrial action over pay (starts 18 September) - USE YOUR VOTE!

At the last  JNCHES (Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff) meeting on 22 May the employer’s representatives from the University Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) made their final offer on the 2012-13 national pay claim to the HE trade union side. This was for a flat rate increase of 1% in pay for all staff. 

The UCU Higher Education Sector Conference (HESC) decided to consult members on this final offer with a recommendation that members vote to reject it as it barely addresses the claim in any serious way.

pdf format http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/3/e/HE_pay_flyer3_Jul12.pdf

Consultation on HE Pay offer 2012/13

All UCU members were asked to read a statement from the UCU national negotiators (and pdf format have a look at the campaign leaflet) and then to vote on what you believe the union should do next:  The ballot closed on Wednesday 27 June.

UCU members voted by 70% to 30% to reject the employers' offer of 1% on all pay points. UCU then asked the employers for further talks to resolve the dispute and the Higher Education Committee has approved the move to a ballot should such talks fail to result in an acceptable offer.

Regrettably there has been no movement from the employers in the interim, and formal notice has been served by UCU on HE institutions, including Birkbeck, giving notice of a ballot on industrial action.

The ballot opens on 18 September and closes on 10 October.

If the ballot is in favour of strike action this will follow before the end of October.

For more information, see 'background' below and pdf format www.ucu.org.uk/circ/pdf/UCUHE160.pdf

Background

At an earlier meeting on 20 April the employers’ representatives from the (UCEA) marginally improved their pay offer for next session from 0.5% to 0.8%. The five HE trade unions - UCU, UNISON, EIS, GMB and Unite - unanimously rejected this offer as totally inadequate. They also reminded the employers' side that that the other central elements of the claim: closing the gender pay gap; the assimilation of hourly paid staff onto fractional contracts and onto the national pay spine; equality proofed criteria for the professoriate; a disability leave agreement and a commitment to pay the Living Wage were also essential parts of any final agreement. They also made the following points as part of their evaluation and rejection of the employers' offer:

  • The compounded loss in members’ take home pay since 2009 is running at 10%. The present offer goes nowhere near starting to address this loss.
  • RPI inflation during the negotiating cycle is forecast to remain above 3.5%. The offer falls way short of keeping current wage levels in line with increases in RPI.
  • Given the HEFCE report ‘Financial health of the higher education sector’, affordability arguments used by the employers in recent years would be difficult for members to accept in this pay round.
  • Total staff costs continue to fall relative to total expenditure;  HESA data for 2010-11shows the continuing downward trend is now at an historic low of 56.2%
  • The relative mean average increases for Vice-Chancellor’s pay between 2002-3 and 2009-10 were 62.1%, compared to 38.5% for the rest of academic staff. 
  • Members in USS and other HE pension schemes are or will soon be paying increased contributions into their scheme, will be expected to work longer, and eventually get less in retirement. 

The third New JNCHES national claim negotiating meeting took place on 22 May. The full and final offer made by the employers’ representatives at UCEA falls short of the HE trade unions expectations, and indeed barely addresses the various elements in the claim in any serious way. The trade unions were unanimous in stating that their respective negotiating teams would not be recommending acceptance of the final offer to members. All five unions; UCU, Unison, Unite, GMB and EIS will now consult members via their respective democratic structures. EIS and Unite have already rejected the offer.

The trade union claim for 2012-13 is;

  • An increase of 3.7% on all salary points to match the increase in RPI to February 2012
  • A further increase of 3.3% to begin to catch up with the real terms cut in pay over the last three years
  • A commitment from all universities to pay a ‘Living Wage’ 
  • Positive proposals from employers to address the outstanding recommendations of the 2009/10 Equalities Working Group. In particular, we are seeking positive action to address the continuing gender pay gap in higher education.
  • Joint proposals on pay equality for professors and senior staff
  • Structural proposals on the assimilation of hourly paid staff to the national pay spine and transfer to fractional contracts
  • A joint agreement on disability leave

Details of the employers' final offer can be found on pdf format www.ucu.org.uk/circ/pdf/UCUHE153.pdf . 

For more information, see pdf format www.ucu.org.uk/circ/pdf/UCUHE160.pdf and pdf format http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/3/e/HE_pay_flyer3_Jul12.pdf

You can download the campaign leaflet here pdf format www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/k/c/HE_pay_leaflet_June_2012.pdf

More information on pay in Birkbeck can be found on www.bbk.ac.uk/ucu/campaigns/Bbk_Pay

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