UK pay talks reach crunch point as unions debate employer offer

Talks aimed at agreeing a pay rise for staff at UK universities have reached a crunch point, with the financial crisis in higher education posing issues for both sides as they seek to finalise a deal.

With time running out, given the extra money is expected in pay packets from August, both unions and employers will stage key meetings this week to discuss a package of measures, which Times Higher Education understands includes a rise of 2.3 per cent for staff covered by the process.

This would be much lower than last year, when pay rose by between 5 per cent and 8 per cent in response to soaring inflation; an increase that many universities have cited as part of the reason they are now having to cut jobs but one that was rejected by the University and College Union (UCU), which staged an acrimonious five-month long marking and assessment boycott in response.

Despite increased financial challenges, this year’s process has been notably calmer, with UCU – the biggest of the five trade unions involved – lacking a mandate to take industrial action after its most recent ballot failed.

Sources close to the process have stressed a renewed willingness on both sides to agree a deal, with a review of the pay system and action on key issues such as casualisation and workloads also on the table as part of the proposed agreement.

“Despite a growing financial crisis in the sector, employers are determined to achieve a realistic but fair pay offer alongside progress in many of the other important areas identified by the trade unions,” said Raj Jethwa, the chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (Ucea).

“We are also proposing a much-needed review of the pay spine alongside meaningful progress on contract types, workload and pay gaps. Discussions are ongoing and there is much which can be achieved in this year’s pay round, but nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

The 2.3 per cent offer is understood to have been increased marginally from 2.2 per cent over the course of five meetings between March and May but it still lags behind the unions’ claim, which called for an increase matching the retail price index of inflation – which stood at 3.3 per cent in April – plus an additional 2 per cent.

Even in the unlikely circumstances that the offer went as high as 4 per cent, it would still cause “ructions” within UCU, said Gregor Gall, visiting professor in industrial relations at the University of Leeds.

This was because of the “bad feeling” produced by pay disputes of the last few years and the perception that any increase should make up for losses already suffered, he said, adding that there would be pressure from the left to reject the offer and go back on strike.

But the union also faces the challenge of trying to balance demands for higher pay with the financial insecurity of many institutions. Its higher education committee meets on 10 June to decide what to do next, with an update expected from the union by 11 June.

The other unions involved – EIS, GMB, Unison and Unite – are also all due to consider the deal ahead of a Ucea board meeting on 12 June. If no agreement has been reached by then, the body could choose to impose the rise, although this could risk reigniting tensions with the unions.

Professor Gall said on the employer side a strain was being placed on national bargaining “as some of the Russell Group universities may be able and willing to pay a bit more where they operate in international labour markets”.

Strikingly, however, almost all institutions signed up to participate in national negotiations again this year, despite the difficulties faced.

One of those not on the list, Queen’s University Belfast – which was suspended from Ucea for agreeing a local pay deal in the midst of the marking boycott – announced last month that it had agreed to pay staff 13 per cent more over three years in addition to a one-off non-consolidated payment in what the institution hailed as a “new era of industrial relations”.

Nottingham Trent University – which left the national pay negotiating process nearly three years ago – has also just agreed a two-year settlement with its staff which will include a one-off payment of £500 or 1.5 per cent of salary, a 2.5 per cent pay uplift in August 2024 and a further 2 per cent in August 2025.

Vice-chancellor Edward Peck said the deal also included additional measures such as closure days, increment payments and grade revisions which had all been requested by staff. “This ability to resolve these priorities of colleagues as part of the overall negotiation is one of the major benefits of local collective pay bargaining,” he said.

In March, Imperial College London – which has long not participated in national collective bargaining – offered its staff a pay deal equivalent to a 4 per cent rise overall.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com