This year our employers offered a 0% pay freeze to all staff in Higher Education. This isn’t just a freeze; it is a pay cut: bills will increase this year, but our wages will not.
UNISON and other Higher Education trade unions are unwilling to accept this “offer” and so you will be contacted in the coming weeks to consult as to whether you accept or reject the offer and would support sustained industrial action to push the employer to make a better offer.
If UNISON has your email address, you’ll be sent an email when the consultation opens.
Please check we have the right contact details for you at MyUNISON before 16th November 2020.
National Pay Bargaining in Other Sectors
To put into perspective what this means for members working in Higher Education, employees included in 262 national pay bargaining deals this year are getting a better pay rise than us. Just 42 are seeing a pay freeze. Below are figures relating to pay offers this year being offered in other sectors:
In the public sector:
- Council workers are all getting pay rises at different rates, which varies from around 2% (with more for the lowest paid). For example:
- Northampton Council staff – 4% offered with 6.2% for the lowest paid.
- Scottish Public Sector staff – 3% offered, with 4.1% for the lowest paid.
- 8.4% for the lowest paid at the Department for Education.
- Sport England staff – 2% offered.
- Police Service staff – 2.5% offered.
- Department for Work and Pensions staff – 2.5% offered.
- Dental staff – 2.8% offered.
In the private sector:
- Home Bargains staff – 15% offered over 2 years.
- Tata Steel staff – 6.5% offered.
- G4S staff – 6% offered.
Consultation on the Pay Offer
We believe all staff in Higher Education deserve a pay rise this year, especially when we consider all the hard work that staff have put in to keep the University running, from security staff working throughout the lockdown period, maintenance staff ensuring the campus is maintained to a high standard, admin and support staff ensuring that students are receiving enough support during this time and are able to register to their programmes, academic staff moving to online teaching and many more. We all deserve more than a pay cut.
Consultation of members starts on 3rd November and ends on 30th November
For more information go to: UNISON Higher Education Campaign Page