HE negotiations 2023-24
13 January 2023
Information on the UK-wide higher education negotiations for 2023-24 which take place within the Joint National Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES).
Negotiations to resolve the Four Fights dispute are ongoing with HE employers' organisation UCEA.
Latest
UCU's HE pay negotiators have today updated members on updates following the ballot result:
As your negotiators, we will reflect on the recent ballot results and return to engage with our evasive & obstructive employers, continuing to focus on the Four Fights. The campaign is far from over and now is the time to press UCEA for answers. In recent months, we had already begun discussions with UCEA regarding the review of sector finance and secured commitment to finally renegotiate on casualisation, workload, equality pay gaps and the pay spine. These discussions are currently scheduled to take place alongside the sector finance meetings and will continue into the next year.
As a negotiating team, we remain steadfastly committed to getting UCEA back around at the table and securing better pay and employment conditions.
We will be focusing our efforts on these talks. We will also be reflecting on the current situation and our next steps in order to increase our leverage in these talks at the upcoming HEC and will provide a more detailed briefing to branches in advance of this to share with members.
New strikes, new ballot
6 November 2023
Two-thirds (68%) of members who voted backed taking strike action, and three-quarters (75%) backed taking other forms of industrial action, trade union laws mean that despite turnout being 43%, far higher than in May's local elections (32%), staff will not be able to strike: Anti-union laws stop university staff striking for fair pay & conditions
20 September 2023
Ballot papers start arriving today: UCU ballot papers land today: vote YES
11 September 2023
Strike ballots will open at 143 universities across the UK from Tuesday 19 September in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
The ballot will run until Friday 3 November and is aggregated. A successful ballot will renew the union's existing strike mandate and allow staff at every university being balloted to take industrial action well into 2024.
Date set for university strike ballot
8 September 2023
Staff at universities across the UK will strike for five days later this month in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions. UCU members will strike for five consecutive days from Monday 25 to Friday 29 September with strikes hitting four Scottish universities on slightly different dates to coincide with local action by other unions.
Start of university term to be hit with five days of UK-wide strikes
Negotiations update for 2023-24
14 August 2023
More strike action will take place across UK universities unless UCEA agrees to return to negotiations and end disruption to graduations. The Higher Education Committee met this afternoon and voted to take further strike action before the end of September and to begin preparations for a new ballot in order to renew UCU's industrial mandate in the pay and working conditions dispute, meaning disruption could continue this year and well into 2024.
1 August 2023
Ahead of planned talks this week UCU received a letter from the UCEA board setting out their postion. Their position is to offer nothing, and it rules any kind of interim agreement entirely out of reach. Employers are refusing to consider offering anything extra on pay, and in the absence of this neither are they offering anything to redress the punitive pay deductions many members have suffered for participating in the marking and assessment boycott.
While the marking and assessment boycott continues we are now planning to take legal action against the punitive deductions, and well as planning for and building toward a fresh ballot.
Read more:
14 July 2023
Joint statement from UCU and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) on today's talks:
Today's exploratory talks between UCEA, UCU and the other joint unions' side secretary were constructive, although there is still significant ground to be covered. We have explored obstacles to resuming negotiations and bringing an end to the Marking and Assessment Boycott, with both sides recognising the complexity of the issues. Both sides welcomed the positive tone of the discussion and have identified dates for further urgent talks. Further discussion will also take place with the Joint HE Trade Unions to consider the scope and remit of a review of sector finances.
5 July 2023
On 4 July 2023, UCU received a letter from UCEA confirming their willingness to enter urgent negotiations to explore the potential of reaching an agreement to settle our dispute.
Members will be fully aware of the terms UCU would want to see in any final agreement - these were out in communications to employers last week. Those are the terms on which UCU will seek to reach an agreement - regardless of any positions UCEA have set out.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady told members. 'UCEA have said that they will not attend talks with preconditions, specifically citing the return of deductions as something they are not willing to concede now as a guarantee. It is important nevertheless that we meet with them to establish if we can negotiate for an outcome that members deserve. Meeting is always the right thing to do.'
Arrangements are now being made to finalise the date and time for the meeting. In the meantime the dispute and industrial action continue.
30 June 2023
The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) are being given one final opportunity to enter into negotiations to resolve the UK wide dispute, UCU general secretary Jo Grady reported today: Update on employer negotiations and the marking and assessment boycott
25 May 2023
The joint trade unions
write to UCEA on their refusal to engage in negotiations [861kb] without pre-conditions.
17 May 2023
The employers have been criticised for formally refusing to negotiate in our ongoing pay and conditions dispute after new analysis showed employers can easily afford to make an improved pay offer. UK Universities generated more money than ever last year, yet staff expenditure has hit rock bottom, reveals new analysis from UCU. It shows the surplus universities generated could have raised staff pay by 10% with hundreds of millions to spare: New analysis reveals record university income as employers refuse to negotiate
11 May 2023
The joint trade unions write to UCEA urging it to reconsider its position and return to the negotiating table:
Joint union letter to UCEA, 11 May 23 [112kb]
17 April 2023
In a formal consultation members voted by 56% to reject proposals agreed with employers.
The rejection of the pay and conditions proposals means a marking and assessment boycott will now commence at 145 UK universities on Thursday 20 April, unless employers put an enhanced offer on the table. Last month, UCU successfully renewed its industrial action mandate over the 2022-23 pay dispute, allowing industrial action to be called for a further six months.
Read more here on the formal consultation results here.
31 March 2023
UCU's Higher Education Committee has decided that the proposals in the 2022-23 pay dispute, which would also impact the 2023-24 negotiations, should go out to a full member consultation - this will commence on Tuesday 4 April 2023: Formal consultation on employers' proposals and announcing our reballot result
23 March 2023
The joint trade unions issued a statement that notes UCEA's position in relation to further industrial action. The unions' statement says they wish to make it clear that 'we will not agree to any cessation of industrial action up front for the next 12 months and that the unions and UCEA must respect our trade union democratic processes':
JNCHES joint TU statement 23Mar23 [568kb]
15 March 2023
University employers today made proposals in the dispute over pay and working conditions.
The proposals pave the way for the end the use of involuntary zero-hour contracts in higher education, and to agree new standards, frameworks and principles to tackle other forms of casualised contracts, reduce workloads and close equality pay gaps.
The proposals will now move through our democratic processes, and strike action over the 2022-23 dispute will continue until our 70,000 UCU members have had the chance to have their say: Employers make offers in university disputes
2 March 2023
Following a further round of talks at Acas, the joint unions today issued this statement: Talks between UCEA and the HE trades unions continue. Following progress on terms of reference for a review of the UK HE pay spine, the focus is now on terms of reference covering equality pay gaps, contract types, and workload. Work continues with a further meeting scheduled with ACAS on 14 March 2023.
24 February 2023
UCU general secretary Jo Grady has updated members on UCEA's decision to write to all institutions saying there is no agreement on pay, and they are recommending universities pay the first part of the pay award for 2023-24.
16 February 2023
The joint unions
announced significant progress [81kb] in the Acas negotiations where they are establishing time limited negotiations for new agreements on:
- tackling casualisation
- improving work life balance and reducing workloads
- addressing equality pay gaps.
UCEA are currently consulting their members with a recommendation that they give them a mandate to end the use of involuntary zero hour contracts on campus. Progress has been made on pay with the removal of the lowest point from the pay scale, and a review of the pay spine.
25 January 2023
At the latest negotiating meeting the employers made a marginally improved offer, but one which is still well below inflation and does nothing for years of pay degradation. They have still yet to make any further offers on the issues of casualisation, workload and equality pay gaps. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said 'it is immediately clear this offer will do little to protect our members in a cost-of-living crisis, nor is it at the limit of what a sector with over £40bn in reserves can afford. The offer is another devastating real-terms pay cut for tens of thousands of our members, following over a decade of below inflation pay awards.'
The offer will be confirmed in writing (and will be split between February and August) but the overall percentage rises for both offers are shown below:
Original offer | Latest offer | ||
Spinal Points 3-5 | 7% | Spinal Points 3-5 | 8% |
Spinal Points 6-14 | 7% | Spinal Points 6-14 | 7% |
Spinal Points 15-25 | 6% | Spinal Points 15-25 | 6% |
Spinal Points 26-42 | 5% | Spinal Points 26-42 | 5% |
Spinal Points above 43 | 4% | Spinal Points above 43 | 5% |
19 January 2023
In order to move the negotiations forward, the joint unions presented a pay claim for 2023/24 seeking a rise of RPI+2% or £4,000 whichever is the highest and informed the employers that a full pay claim including pay-related issues would be forthcoming soon.
The joint trade unions presented the joint claim at a negoating meeting with UCEA on 16 January. In response, a representative from UCEA likened the claim to an 'April Fools' joke'. The unions responded by saying they had 'arrived at today's meeting prepared to enter serious negotiations. We were disappointed that UCEA did not appear to share that approach'.
11 January 2023
HE employers have made a tiered offer for 2023-24 which would deliver an uplift of between 4-5% for UCU members. UCEA, representing the employers, said part of the uplift would be brought forward and paid in February 2023, with the rest from August, as normal.
From 1 February 2023:
Spinal Column Points | Uplift |
3 to 14 | 2.8% |
15 to 25 | 2.4% |
26 to 42 | 2% |
43 to 51 | 1.6% |
From August 2023:
Spinal Column Points | Uplift |
3 to 14 | 4.2% |
15 to 25 | 3.6% |
26 to 42 | 3% |
43 to 51 | 2.4% |
The formal offer letter can be viewed here.
UCEA have refused to provide an improved offer for the 2022-23 pay round and the unions do not accept negotiations are closed.
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