Dispute is over pay and working conditions


University of Roehampton

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the University of Roehampton have backed strike action in a ballot over pay and working conditions.

Staff are joining those at 58 other universities across the country with 37 also planning industrial action over the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension cuts.

179 staff members out of 284 entitled to vote at the University of Roehampton took part in the ballet with 62.4% saying they were prepared to take strike action and 83.1% saying they were prepared to take industrial action short of a strike.

The National Union of Students has backed staff voting for strike action, calling their working conditions “untenable”.

UCU is demanding a £2,500 pay increase for all staff; an end to race, gender and disability pay injustice; a framework to eliminate zero-hours and other casualised contracts; and action to tackle ‘unmanageable’ workloads.

UCU says it modelling shows that the wages of university staff has fallen 20% in real terms since 2009. A report also published recently showed a widespread workload and mental health crisis in universities, with almost a third of staff feeling emotionally drained from work every day.

The union says that employer representative Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) is refusing to negotiate on casualisation or make an improved pay offer.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said, ‘This result is a clear vote of no confidence in the so-called leaders of our universities, with staff telling them in no uncertain terms that they have had enough of pay and working conditions being run into the ground.

‘UCU members have yet again beaten the Tory anti-union laws. Alongside our pension ballot result, this means we have a big mandate to take strike action, at a time of our choosing.

‘It is scandalous that university vice-chancellors on overinflated salaries seem to think doing nothing on pay, casualisation and inequality is acceptable in a sector awash with money.

‘We truly hope that disruption can be avoided, that is what staff and students alike all want. But this is entirely in the gift of employers who simply need to end their attacks on pensions, pay and working conditions and finally demonstrate they value their staff.’

Raj Jethwa, UCEA's Chief Executive said, "UCEA has read the low turnouts in the UCUs’ ballots of their members over the 2021-22 pay award as a clear indication that the great majority of university union members as well as wider HE employees understand the financial realities for their institution. These disaggregated ballot results are disappointing for UCU and their HEC now faces awkward discussions and has very difficult decisions to make regarding strike action. The low ballot numbers follow a six-month period of delay since UCEA’s pay offer for UCU to prepare and campaign for strike action clearly targeting students during the autumn term.

"UCU has just 54 results from their 146 separate ballots supporting a national dispute over the outcome of the 2021-22 JNCHES pay round. While UCU members in these 54 institutions could technically be asked to strike against their individual institution, this would be causing damage to both union members and to students in an unrealistic attempt to force all 146 employers to re-open the concluded 2021-22 national pay round and improve on an outcome that is for most of these institutions already at the very limit of what is affordable.

"For the institutions where UCU members have voted in sufficient numbers to support industrial action, it is unclear how they can possibly pursue UCU’s national pay dispute.

"It is now three months since employees covered by the national pay negotiations received above inflation base pay increases of between 3.6% and 1.5%, plus progression pay for 51% of academics. It is clear that the great majority of the 325,000 colleagues in UK HE institutions covered by the collective negotiations on the base pay uplift understand the financial realities for their institutions."

November 12, 2021