Higher education workers walk out for third day | Article | News

Higher education workers who have endured a 13% drop in pay over the past five years will strike for a third day today (6 February) in an increasingly bitter pay row with cash-rich universities.

The walkout follows the decision by universities to effectively shut down talks and forcibly impose a miserly 1% pay offer, condemning workers to a fifth straight year of real-term falling wages. In contrast, the pay bill for Vice-Chancellors, excluding bonuses and pensions, has risen by 5% since 2007/08.

Caterers, cleaners, security guards and student support staff will be among those workers taking strike action, following previous walkouts on 31 October and 3 December last year. Members from UNISON, UCU, Unite and EIS unions will all take part in the action.

Despite sitting on cash surpluses of £2bn over the past two years, and the Higher Education Funding Council predicting this trend will continue for the next few years, more than 4,000 higher education workers are paid less than the living wage, which is £7.65 and £8.80 in London. The cost of giving a pay rise to all low-paid higher education workers to the level of the living wage is estimated to be £5m.

The median salary of Vice-Chancellors is £242,000, with the highest paid receiving more than £500,000. Yet workers at the bottom end of the pay scale earn just £13,486. Across the UK, terms and conditions amongst higher education workers are being eroded while job insecurity is increasing. There is a greater use of zero hour contracts and an increase in the gender pay gap.

Universities are spending huge sums on casual and agency workers. A UNISONNUS survey has discovered that more than £123 million pounds was spent in one year alone on agency staff. This is money that would have been better invested in a fair pay settlement for the existing workforce. Less than 5% of the total spend on agency staff would ensure that low paid workers receive a living wage.

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said:

“The cost of paying a living wage to 4,000 low paid workers is about £5m, which is a tiny fraction of the two billion pound reserves that university employers are sitting on and the £123m they have spent on agency staff.

“Higher Education workers have every right to be angry that wealthy universities can afford to give the highest salaried staff a generous pay rise, while the lowest paid are being forced to accept peanuts.

“For low paid workers it is a very difficult choice to take strike action, so the decision to walk out for a third time shows the depth of feeling amongst our members. Hard working staff have dealt with significant changes that increased their workloads dramatically, yet their incomes have been squeezed to breaking point.”

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Notes to Editors

UNISON members in higher education took part in nationwide strike action on 31 October 2013 and 3 December 2013, seeking a significant improvement on the employer’s 1% pay offer. The union’s higher education service group executive took the decision to call for a third day of action following discussions with other trade unions after the employers refused to increase the offer.

Higher education has a greater gender pay gap than the rest of the public sector.

More than half of higher education institutions are using zero hour contracts and the numbers are growing.

In the last two years, surpluses in the sector have been more than £2bn. Student fee income has more than offset cuts in government grants.