MPs from every region back lecturers’ pay demand

Members of the lecturers’ unions the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and Natfhe are taking strike action tomorrow (Tuesday 7 March) because they say promises to use new money coming into the higher education sector to improve staff pay have been broken.

On the eve of that action the unions have been bolstered by the news that more than 120 MPs have signed up to a Westminster resolution declaring their support for pay increases.

The resolution (Early Day Motion 1540) is even signed by four members of the Education and Skills Select Committee, and urges university vice-chancellors to 'seek a settlement to the current pay dispute'. The unions have been trying to resolve the dispute since October and the employers have not yet made them any kind of pay offer.

Universities and higher education colleges will be brought to a halt tomorrow (Tuesday) as the strike action hits. Picket lines are expected outside most campus entrances and thousands of lectures will be cancelled. Rallies are scheduled to take place in several university towns and cities throughout the UK.

On Wednesday, lecturers will begin an assessment boycott, which could leave millions of students with coursework unmarked, lectures and seminars cancelled, and their exam programmes thrown into chaos if a pay deal cannot be reached. If this becomes a protracted dispute students could even be prevented from graduating in the summer. Both unions reiterated today that any industrial action is a last resort to force employers to take them seriously.

Roger Kline, head of the universities department at NATFHE, said:

"This is a tremendous expression of cross-party support from the whole of the UK. It has surpassed our target of 100 MPs. We have received support from MPs who voted for top-ups and MPs who didn't. I am confident that many MPs believed that some of that new money would be used to improve the pay of all lecturers, but there is still no sign of that. Sadly, our joint union strike action will therefore go ahead tomorrow."

Sally Hunt, AUT general secretary, said:

"The MPs' statement is typical of the widespread support we have received in our campaign for fair pay. Lecturers’ pay has declined by 40 per cent in relative terms over the last 20 years. Our claim is sensible, costed and fully merited. The only people who continue to procrastinate on the issue are the vice-chancellors, and they themselves told Parliament they would be using the new money coming into the sector to sort out staff pay. Tomorrow’s strike action should not be happening and it is up to the employers to make us an offer now to prevent further widespread disruption."