Higher Education Pay Ballot: stand up for decent pay and decent jobs
Stand up for decent pay and decent jobs
Your employer’s pay offer isn’t good enough. Most higher education staff would see a pay increase of just 1.8% – well below inflation. Over two thirds of members who voted in our recent consultation rejected it.
So we’re running a national ballot of our higher education members and asking you to vote YES for strike action to demand an improved pay offer.
Ballot papers will arrive in a brown envelope to your home address from 9 September. If you haven’t received your ballot paper by 12 September, please call the ballot helpline on 0800 0 857857.
What was our pay claim?
UNISON pushed hard for a decent pay rise for our members. Along with the other unions, our pay claim was for:
- a rise of RPI plus 3%, or a minimum increase of £3,349;
- £10 per hour minimum rate of pay;
- all universities to become accredited by the Living Wage Foundation;
- a 35-hour working week;
- action to close the gender and ethnicity pay gaps;
- action to reduce excessive workloads and combat stress.
The employers’ offer
University employers won’t stump up. Their offer falls short, with the majority of HE staff being offered a rise of 1.8%, and lower paid staff offered between 1.82% and 3.65%. Check the pay award for your spinal column point in the final pay offer.
Use our pay calculator below to see how much pay you’ve lost over the last ten years, and find your university on our map below to see what your VC is paid, whether your employer is Living Wage accredited, and what its standard support staff contract is.
