Staff at every university in Wales start voting today (SEPT 6) on whether to take industrial action in disputes over pay, working conditions and pensions. The University and College Union (UCU) warned some university staff “face poverty” as it began balloting members today.
The union said ballots were being held over long running disputes which have now become more urgent in the face of “the worst cost of living crisis in living memory.” A result on the ballot will be announced next month.
Staff in Wales are among more than 70,000 at 150 universities being balloted across the UK in a dispute over their employers’ below inflation 3% pay offer as well as working conditions and pension cuts that amount to a 35% reduction in retirement income for some.
Read more: Strikes involving thousands could take place in coming months, says Unite union
The ballot follows a walk out by university staff in Wales and elsewhere in the UK earlier this year. More than one million students were affected as around 50,000 members of the UCU at 44 universities walked out in the ongoing fight against pension cuts in February. Staff at a further 24 universities took strike action over pay and working conditions.
A series of strikes were also held in the ongoing dispute before the pandemic. At that time staff at Cardiff and Bangor University UCU members walked out.
This is what university staff are angry about
In the pay and working conditions dispute, UCU’s demands include a pay rise of 12% or Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 2%, an agreed framework to eliminate insecure work practices such as zero hours contracts, and action to address “dangerously high workloads”.
Last month universities imposed a 3% pay offer, compared with RPI inflation of 12.3%”. As a result pay has now fallen behind inflation by 25% since 2009, the UCU said.
“the real term pay cut will see staff facing poverty. Experts have warned that RPI will hit 21% by January whilst gas and electricity prices are already reaching record highs, “ the UCU said in a statement.
“On average, university staff work an additional two days per week unpaid due to excessive workloads. A third of academic staff are on some form of insecure contract.”
In the pension dispute, the UCU is demanding universities withdraw benefit cuts and pressure the scheme’s managers to restore benefits to 2021 levels. The ballot comes after employer representative Universities UK (UUK) made cuts to the USS that the UCU said would see a typical member lose 35% of their guaranteed retirement income.
“The cuts were predicated on a valuation of the scheme in March 2020 that reported a deficit of £14bn. However, the latest monitoring report from USS shows the scheme is now in surplus,” the UCU said.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “The reason for these ballots is very simple: university staff are facing the biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation, yet bosses think they can get away with a massive real-terms pay cut and pension cuts that will leave our members facing poverty.
“A 3% pay increase is completely unacceptable. There is more than enough money in the sector to pay staff properly, restore retirement income and address rampant job insecurity and unmanageable workloads. Vice-chancellors are choosing not to do so. They now need to urgently make a fair offer that allows staff to survive the cost-of-living crisis, or they will face historic strike action.”
Staff at the following universities in Wales are being balloted over pay and conditions and cuts to the USS pension:
- Aberystwyth
- Bangor
- Cardiff
- Swansea
- University of Wales Trinity St David
Staff at the following universities are being balloted over pay and conditions only (they have a different pension scheme)
- Cardiff Metropolitan
- University of South Wales
- Wrexham
Universities Wales and Universities UK (UUK), which represent employers, were approached for comment.
Read next:
Inflation hits new 40-year-high soaring into double figure s
Universities 'need to make tuition fees closer to £22,000' for UK students, say bosses
The options for Liz Truss to help your energy bills – and how likely they are
Welsh universities see funding drop by almost £60m
Where Wales' eight universities stand in the latest UK higher education rankings
