Pay negotiations continue between Uni and unions

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) made a final offer of a one percent increase on all pay points effective from August 2012 to higher education trade unions on May 22.

This represents an increase from the May 20 offer of 0.8 percent and the March 30 offer of a 0.5 percent increase made at the first Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES) meeting. The unions involved – including Unison and Unite – are now consulting on the offer.

The unions initially pushed for a seven percent pay increase. The UCEA, weary of significant changes to the higher education sector and calls for pay restraint from higher education funders, moderated the unions’ suggestion, arguing that such increases would add £1 billion to the higher education pay bill.

However, the UCEA added that 40 percent of higher education staff will receive a small pay rise in 2012, which they argue will help offset the fact that the unions’ pay demands have not been granted in full.

Head of Communications at Warwick, Peter Dunn, said that the University was involved in these national negotiations and is involved in the current wage negotiations alongside the UCEA.

The UCEA emphasised their willingness to work with the unions, notably on equality-related issues raised at the meeting.

The unions advocated the living wage campaign during the meeting, a Labour-sponsored initiative. The Chair of the UCEA, Professor Paul Curran, made a commitment to “joint working” on this and other equality-related issues.