Update on UCEA talks and public sector pay rises

I am writing to let you know that tomorrow [Friday 14 July 2023], alongside other elected officers and our higher education official, I will be meeting with Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) to hold negotiations regarding our pay dispute and marking and assessment boycott (MAB).

Nearly two weeks ago we outlined the grounds on which UCU would consider settling the dispute.

In the time that has passed we have seen powerful student protests at a string of graduations, including this amazing video here. Today has also seen the current governments forced to honour pay review body recommendations for public sector workers.

This puts UCEA under massive pressure ahead of our meeting tomorrow. Put simply, they must improve their offer.

I will update you as things progress and ask that you continue to offer the MAB your full support, and donate to our fighting fund if you are able to.

Finally, I wanted to highlight that whilst the UK-wide pay dispute continues, we also have two major disputes at the University of Brighton and the University of East Anglia (UEA) over large scale redundancies. I visited UEA yesterday and recorded a short podcast with the branch as well as videos with members outlining the issues locally at UEA, and how they reflect what is happening elsewhere. I will be visiting Brighton later this month too. Please support both branches by sending letters of support and sharing the union's content. 

We will come through this together.