NATFHE/AUT press release
Indignant union members will be out in force on the picket lines
Furious university staff reacted with amazement today (Tuesday) at reports from their employers that, on average, they earn over £40,000 a year. The claim was made by the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) ahead of the 24 hour strike by members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and NATFHE today (Tuesday).
The truth, however, is very different, as the most recent figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the central source for higher education statistics, show. According to their figures the average salaries for the different roles in academia are:
- Researchers: £25,807
- Lecturers: £32,531
- Senior lecturers and researchers: £41,776
- Professors: £56,944
The HESA data reveals that the average pay for full-time academic staff is actually £35,773. Their figures also show that at just 10 (ten) institutions out of 170 do academic staff earn an average salary above £40,000.
See full list of average full-time staff by institution.
The briefing from UCEA is not only untrue, but flies in the face of recent comments the employers have made about staff pay. When lobbying for the introduction of top-up fees vice-chancellors were at pains to portray lecturers as being underpaid and claimed universities needed the top-up fee cash to ensure they were better-paid. Now top-up fees are on the statute, and the unions are insisting that promises over staff pay must be kept, the employers have performed a complete u-turn.
Less than a year ago the chair of the UCEA board, Dr Geoffrey Copland, said ‘Throughout the history of the Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES), employers have repeatedly made clear that they want to see more money spent on staff, whenever funding allows.’
See a full rebuttal to the UCEA briefing.
AUT general secretary, Sally Hunt, said:
'I am amazed the employers think they can use their staff to suit whichever agenda they have at the time. They really have scored an own goal with this apparent factsheet. The facts are incorrect and they have infuriated members of both unions across the country. Instead of putting so much time and energy into their concerted campaign of misinformation, they would have been better off negotiating with the unions and preventing any industrial action. I suggest the universities come back to us with an offer as soon as possible and avoid the risk of further alienating themselves from the staff their mission statements claim to value so highly.'
Head of the universities department at NATFHE, Roger Kline, said:
'UCEA have defeated the laws of statistics and created an average salary figure which is greater than the maximum earnings of most lecturers and senior lecturers. Moreover UCEA's figures completely ignore the tens of thousands of lecturers on hourly paid or fixed term contracts at far lower rates than even the poor salaries of full-time permanent lecturers. The only merit in their false figures has been the anger they have produced amongst lecturers - and the boost in NATFHE's membership.'
Contacts:
Dan Ashley tel 020 7670 9705, mobile 07789 518 992, [email protected]
NATFHE Trevor Phillips tel 0207 520 1032, mobile 07773 796 882, [email protected]
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