29 March 2006

‘Derisory’ university pay offer rejected

The academic unions, AUT and NATFHE, this afternoon (Tuesday) described the employers’ pay offer of 6% over two years as ‘derisory’ and accused them of refusing to make any serious effort to get the current pay dispute resolved. The unions were barred from this afternoon’s pay talks with the employers’ representatives, the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA).

The 6% increase is a long way short of the ‘at least a third’ of the £3.5bn coming into the sector over the next three years. That money was promised by vice-chancellors, when lobbying for top-up fees, to sort out staff pay.

The unions have made it quite clear that their current industrial action will continue until a serious pay offer is on the table. Last week the employers wrote to AUT and Natfhe and said they would be excluded from the talks if they did not stand down their industrial action.

After hearing news of the offer this afternoon the unions have questioned why the employers had bothered to push ahead with an offer that does not come close to arresting the declining salaries lecturers have endured compared to other professions.

AUT general secretary, Sally Hunt, said:

"Making an offer without having input from the biggest academic unions is a pointless publicity stunt. I am amazed that even without us in the meeting to talk them through our fully costed pay claim that they could possibly think this derisory offer would satisfy our members.

"This dispute can only be resolved when there is a serious offer on the table. If they are incapable of deducing what constitutes a serious offer without our help then they should agree to another meeting as a matter of urgency. If the employers really want to restrict the potential damage to their students’ work and their institutions’ reputations, they need get serious about resolving this dispute. The first step is to get back round the table with us and make a serious pay offer."

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

"A 6% offer over two years is completely unacceptable. It is less than half what vice chancellors paid themselves and it is way short of what NATFHE would regard as the basis for a settlement. It is hardly more than inflation and contains no element of a catch-up.

"Employers have not yet got the message that our members are serious about a significant pay increase. We are very disappointed but remain available for discussions if the employers wish to make a serious offer."

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