UCEA's failure to make pay offer puts universities on 'collision course with unprecedented' strikes

The union was responding to UCEA's refusal to put any offer on the table at yesterday's negotiating meeting. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'UCU yesterday went into negotiations with university employers, represented by UCEA, to try to reach a deal on pay and conditions. Disappointingly, UCEA refused to make an offer for 2022/23 and again demanded that UCU suspend planned industrial action as a pre-condition to even receiving one. This is a deeply unserious way to negotiate.

'The trade unions present agreed to bring forward the 2023/24 pay round and we expect UCEA to make a serious offer before our next meeting on Monday 16 January.

'The joint trade unions are eager to resolve the disputes but can only do so if fair offers for both 2022/23 and 2023/24 are forthcoming. By not even providing a starting offer, UCEA is undermining trust in negotiations and putting the entire university sector on a collision course with unprecedented industrial action.

'The dedicated staff who work in our universities have not had an above inflation pay rise in 13 years. They deserve so much better than to be strung along by employers.'