Stepping up the campaign for pay justice in UK Universities

Following last week's successful second day of national strike action by higher education unions, UNISON has pledged to step up the campaign for an improve pay offer from UCEA, the universities and colleges employers association. Meeting on Friday the union's service group executive pledged to build the pay campaign and engage with members to highlight inequality and low pay throughout January leading to further strike action with UCU and Unite in February:
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/articles/higher-education-executive-considers-the-way-forward

Liverpool University support staff strike against cuts to T’s & C’s

Hard on the heels of yesterday’s higher education national pay strike, support staff members of UNISON and Unite at Liverpool University are today taking a second day of strike action in opposition to imposed cuts in rates of pay for working weekends, nights, open days etc. Services affected include services such as catering, cleaning and building management:
http://www.unisonnw.org/supportlivustaff

All together now - back today's pay strike in UK Universities

#fairpayinHE Members of UCU, UNISON and Unite across higher education are today staging a second day of national strike action in support of an improved pay offer from the University employers. The 1% offer continues a five year trend of below inflation pay rises which has resulted in a loss of pay between £663 and £3,574 from base earnings. Lunchtime rallies about held across the UK - details here:
http://fairpay.web.ucu.org.uk/2013/11/29/what-ucu-members-should-do-on-strike-day/#events

Jam tomorrow is not enough – Britain needs a pay rise

Yesterday it was announced that the higher education unions, UCU, UNISON and Unite, will stage a second day of national strike action on 3 December in support of a pay claim which ‘at least matches the rate of inflation’ (RPI currently stands at 2.6%). The cash rich University employers have offered a derisory 1%. Support came from an unexpected quarter yesterday. The Independent reports that New Labour social mobility Tsar Alan Milburn said Labour’s pledge to freeze energy prices and the Coalition’s proposal to create more competition in the industry would not solve the fundamental problem in the economy – that wages have stagnated. “The cost of living crisis is as much a problem of falling earnings as it is of rising price”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/economic-success-could-be-social-failure-unless-it-raises-earnings-and-living-standards-for-ordinary-people-says-alan-milburn-8937755.html

Historic pay strike as HE workers say enough is enough

After 5 years of pay restraint workers in Britain’s universities have suffered a cumulative cut in real earnings of more than 13%. Over the same period the pay of the self enriching management elite has increased exponentially with a majority of Vice Chancellors receiving pay and benefits packages in excess of £242,000 per year. Universities are sitting on a cash mountain of £2bn reserves so the modest joint union claim of a pay rise matching inflation (currently 2.7%) is clearly affordable. No surprise then that UCU, UNISON and Unite received strong mandates for industrial action in recent co-ordinated ballots leading to today’s first joint pay strike since single table bargaining was introduced in the higher education sector. Check out the UNISON website for details of lunchtime rallies:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24726743

The relentless march of ‘for profit’ universities

A brilliant article on the LRB website charts the relentless march of private capital and ‘for profit’ universities in the UK’s higher education sector – ‘future historians, pondering changes in British society from the 1980s onwards, will struggle to account for the following curious fact.
   Although British business enterprises have an extremely mixed record (frequently posting gigantic losses, mostly failing to match overseas competitors, scarcely benefiting the weaker groups in society), and although such arm’s length public institutions as museums and galleries, the BBC and the universities have by and large a very good record (universally acknowledged creativity, streets ahead of most of their international peers, positive forces for human development and social cohesion), nonetheless over the past three decades politicians have repeatedly attempted to force the second set of institutions to change so that they more closely resemble the first’
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n20/stefan-collini/sold-out

UCU, UNISON and Unite call HE pay strike for 31 October - mobilise to end pay restraint

Industrial action ballots in UCU, UNISON and Unite have all resulted in votes for strike action in higher education following the overwhelming rejection of a 1% pay offer from University employers. UNISON's HE service group executive meeting on Monday endorsed strike action and, following approval by the NEC's Industrial Action Committee, it has been confirmed that a united day of strike action will be held on Thursday 31 October 2013:
https://www.unison.org.uk/news/university-strike-date-announced

Higher Education pay strike ballot underway

This week ballot papers are being despatched to UNISON members working in Britain's universities following rejection of a 1% offer. Lecturers union UCU will also be balloting in a dispute which presents an opportunity to launch a long overdue UNISON industrial challenge to the Con Dem pay freeze. The ballot closes on 8 October:
http://www.unison.org.uk/at-work/education-services/key-issues/higher-education-pay-ballot-2013/home/

The ballooning pay of New University Fat Cats

In recent years the higher education workforce has experienced an erosion in in real earnings and a rising threat to job security due to a toxic combination of funding cuts and falling demand from courses because of economic recession, rising student fees and limits on overseas students. Yet a strata of senior management has never had it so good. According to an analysis of 2011-12 university financial statements by Grant Thornton for Times Higher Education (THE), almost two-thirds of the UK’s vice-chancellors and principals - 98 in total - received increases greater than the derisory £150 rise awarded to higher education staff nationally:

Proposed University privatisation in Lancashire is a dangerous precedent

Denise Ward, chair of UNISON higher education service group, has warned that proposals from senior management at the University of Central Lancashire to become a company limited by guarantee would ‘have a devastating impact on the local economy, access to education, academic provision, the student experience and staff morale’:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=422623&c=1#commentForm

Low paid cleaners protest on World Day for Decent Work

Today is World Day for Decent Work and is being marked by a great initiative by UNISON members at London South Bank University who are calling on the Vice-Chancellor to pay them the living wage by holding a protest rally. More than a hundred cleaners, who are employed by Interserve get paid £6.08 an hour, and do not receive sick pay. The current London living wage is £8.30 an hour.
http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2472
http://www.wddw.org/-English-

UCU to strike over move to change University Pension Scheme

The University and College Union (UCU) today announced plans for strike action in Scotland on Thursday 17 March, in Wales on Friday 18 March, in Northern Ireland on Monday 21 March and in England on Tuesday 22 March.