UCU Pay & Conditions Ballot

Last week, we gave you some information about UCU (The University and College Union) and the current industrial action ballot which may impact your lecturers and in turn your education.

In this article, we’re focusing on the pay and working conditions ballot, where there are concerns put forward by UCU for employers to consider in the protection of working conditions and fair pay. Specifically, they are:

• Pay
• Workload
• The gender, ethnicity & disability pay gaps
• Contract casualisation

Pay

Universities use a pay scale to define the pay due for each role. Roles go through a career grading exercise to be assigned to the appropriate place (or grade) on the pay scale. Holders of the same role are on the same grade but can be on a number of spine points within that grade. Each grade is a bit like a ladder, with each step of the ladder representing a spine point within it. The pay scale itself has an uplift applied (usually annually) to reflect the increased cost of living due to inflation. This is done through a collective agreement with recognised trade unions such as UCU. However, at times, universities and recognised trade unions are unable to form a collective agreement on pay changes.

The final offer made by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) sits at 3% which is below inflation (RPI 11.8% as of June 2022). The UCU is asking members to vote to support industrial action with the aim of increasing each spine point (these are a bit like salary points on a ladder based on the type of the role) by 12% or Retail Price Index (11.8% as of June 2022), plus 2% to keep up with the cost of living and to catch up with pay lost over previous years.

Workload

UCU completed a workload study in 2021 and found that academic staff in higher education work on average 51.3 (full-time equivalent) hours per week, and academic-related professional service staff are working an average of 44.4 (full-time equivalent) hours per week, while both are contracted to work 35 hours per week. UCU would like universities to actively reduce the workload of academic staff.

UCU is proposing agreed action to address excessive workloads and unpaid work; to address the impact that excessive workloads are having on workforce stress and mental ill-health; that workload models and planning take into account COVID pandemic-related changes in working practices.

UCU is also proposing that the standard weekly full-time contract of employment be 35 hours per week at all higher education institutions with no loss of pay.

Pay Gaps

Pay gap analysis considers the difference in average pay within a workforce based on a specific parameter.  

In the UK, organisations of a certain size are required to analyse their gender pay gap and report on it annually - you can read our report for RHSU and other organisations online. There is currently no legal requirement to complete the same exercise in consideration of an ethnicity pay gap, or a disability pay gap.

Across the sector, the pay gap between Black and white staff stands at 17% and the disability pay gap is 9%. The mean gender pay gap is 16% and at the current rate of change, the gap won’t close for another 22 years.

UCU proposes an end to pay injustice: meaningful, agreed action to tackle the ethnic, gender, and disability pay gaps.

Contract Casualisation

The contract terms of a particular role are set by an employer and agreed upon by an employee when they accept an employment contract. The UCU believes that high-quality education depends on staff feeling they have secure employment contracts.

In the UK the contract terms in the education sector are varied.

According to a UCU report, around one-third of all academic staff are employed on fixed-term contracts. A fixed-term contract usually has a set wage, and also has an end date. This means the post holders' continued employment depends on a number of things like securing more funding to continue the same research; finding a grant to undertake new research or finding a new role.

The UCU is asking members to vote to support industrial action with the aim of calling employers to reduce the use of more casual employment contract types.