News:
Our
Ref: MJR/VT/20/12
23rd
May, 2012
To: All Workplace Reps and Branches
Regional Officers
responsible for Higher Education
Colleagues
2012 Pay Claim negotiations
The
final session of New JNCHES negotiations with UCEA took place yesterday 22nd
May. A copy of UCEA's full
final offer is attached for your information.
Despite
the fact that inflation over the period 2009 to 2012 has resulted in higher
education staff on the 51 point spine losing over 10% of their pay in real
terms, the Employers are still trying to limit pay increases to below
inflation. Their final offer was to increase pay by 1%. For those on the bottom
spine points that would be a miserly £138 per annum.
The
joint union claim was for a 7% increase to match current RPI and some catch up
for lost years.
As
you will recall Unite still has not settled the 2011 pay negotiators when the
Employers offered just 0.5% worth £65 to the lowest paid in the sector but the
Employers have now imposed this deal on staff.
Your
Unite negotiators rejected the offer yesterday as totally inadequate and
especially as did not address catch up for 2011. At yesterdays
meeting not one single union was prepared to accept the deal on offer and
rejection of the offer by all unions looks certain. This would mean all unions
are likely to fight for a better deal and commence membership consultation over
the coming weeks.
The
Unite National Education Industry Committee suspended industrial action on the
2011 claim in March for the period of the 2012 pay talks. Please note it is
highly likely that the industrial action short of strike including work to rule
and working to contract will be reapplied shortly. A meeting of the Unite
national committee is being convened to consider next steps.
If,
as expected, all unions reject the latest offer, then the disputes procedure on
the 2012 claim will be engaged which involves two meetings under the disputes
process to resolve any dispute.
There
were other aspects in the UCEA offer including a half
hearted attempt to persuade local HEI's to implement a "Living
Wage" as a minimum standard of £7.20 per hour. There was a refusal by UCEA
to include professorial pay into the national pay spine. UCEA preferred to
"note" the unions concerns that professorial pay is often determined
by non transparent means and in possible breach of
equality provisions. It is draining pay resources into the top echelons rather
than staff on the 51 point pay spine... It is worth noting that professorial
pay increases have not been limited to 0.5%% or 1% in recent years.
UCEA
are willing to recommend uplift of the London Weighting for applicable
institutions by 1%. Again this figure is woefully inadequate measured against
real term pay erosion over recent years.
As
with many UCEA responses to the joint union claim items UCEA usually seek to
divert attention of a failure to make an offer by proposing to set up joint
committees to look at these thorny problems but with no real outcome. This has
been the case with the last joint Equality Committee report in 2011 that made 8
recommendations, none of which have been implemented. UCEA have again proposed
to set up a committee to look at the last Equality Committee recommendations! so we now have the offer of a committee to look at what the
last committee have done! It has become a complete farce.
A
request for a national agreement on disability was met by UCEA with an attempt
to divert the problem to an outside body called the Equality Challenge Unit to
consider. UCEA are supposed to be able to negotiate agreements but on many
occasions they can't negotiate themselves out of a paper bag.
As
part of Unite's industrial action last time we
withdrew co-operation from these committees and we will reapply this sanction
again in the light of the miserly 1% offer.
Unite's message to UCEA has been clear, the
pay offer is completely inadequate and we won't sit down and pretend to do
business with an Employers body like UCEA that is failing staff. Unite as the
only union still fighting for substantial increases in both 2011 and 2012 will
continue to press for a decent pay increase.
Please
support your union. Attend any branch meetings called to discuss the 2012 offer
and continue to support the work to contract action on the 2011 claim to put
pressure locally. Further consultation on the 2012 offer will commence shortly
once the national committee has heard the latest on negotiations and decides
anything further that can be done, including a possible further ballot and
escalation of industrial action.
Below
are the headline UCEA offers for your information. I will be writing to you
again once the Unite National Education has met to consider the next steps
forward.
Yours
sincerely
Mike Robinson
National Officer
Education
Pay: Employers made a final offer of an increase of 1% on all
points on the JNCHES pay spine.
London weighting: Employers offered to make a recommendation of an uplift
of 1%, in line with previous practice, to Post-92 HEIs which have retained
separate London weighting.
The
lower rates on the 51 point pay spine in HE do compare well with many other
sectors and many HEIs are already meeting (or exceeding) the levels used within
the campaign
Where
an HEI is not in that position for staff they employ directly, we would expect
the matter to be raised within the local negotiating arrangements.
Approaches to professorial and senior pay systems: Employers
note the trade unions have raised concerns over institutions’ approaches to pay
equality and pay systems for professors and other senior staff and that these
matters are dealt with at institutional level.
Employers
endorse the principle of paying staff within equality proofed arrangements.
Joint work on equality items: Employers offer
joint work to explore the equality related issues raised in the trade unions’
claim.
Reminding
institutions of the recommendations of the 2009/10 Equality Working Group.
A
survey to review the impact of the final report of the Equality Working Group
and its recommendations on the conduct of equal pay reviews, including hourly
paid employees.
Engaging
with the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) to explore the approaches to disability
leave in the sector.
Joint working already committed: The employers are
already committed to joint work initiatives covering training and development
and pay data.