HE negotiations 2013-14 & 2014-15

Summary

UCU members took industrial action and action short of a strike in response to the employers' failure to make HE members a proper pay offer for 2013-14. This included one day and two-hour strikes, and working to contract. The 2013-14 dispute ended when a conditional offer made during the 2014-15 pay round was accepted by members.

Members vote to accept 'final offer'

In a ballot of members over the employers' 'final offer' for 2014-15, 83.7% of members who voted, voted to accept the offer and call off a planned marking boycott. The turnout was 52.6%.

The final offer of 2% from August 2014 was in addition to last year's offer of 1% from August 2013, and was conditional on the current 2013/14 dispute ending.

The union's higher education committee met on 2 May to consider the ballot result and confirmed that the dispute had ended and the threatened marking boycott called off.

The 2014-15 offer

The employer's full and final offer:

• 2% on all pay spine points with effect from August 2014
• point 1 (the lowest point) of the pay spine to be increased by an additional £30 which will be the equivalent of the living wage in those institutions with a 35-hour week
• joint work to explore the use of the bottom pay points across the sector
• both sides remain committed to explore the pay equality claims which will be addressed at next New JNCHES meetings on 24 April and 20 May.

UCU ballot

A total of 30,141 valid votes on the 'full and final' pay offer were counted, giving a turnout of 52.6%. The eligible votes were cast as follows:

To accept the offer and call off the marking boycott: 25,239 (83.7%)

To reject the offer and commence the marking boycott at the earliest opportunity possible: 4,902 (16.3%)

Arising from this overwhelming result, the higher education committee agreed to inform the employers UCU accepted the full and final offer of 2% made for the 2014/15 negotiations and that the pay dispute carried over from 2013 was now resolved.

The 2014-15 claim submitted to the employer's representatives at UCEA was an updated version of the claim for 2013-14: Joint HE union claim 2014-15 [423kb]

Fighting fund

Members who had a day's pay deducted for taking two-hour strike action or were in real hardship were entitled to claim from the strike fund: click here for more information.