Mary Finch, Unison rep at King’s College London (personal capacity)
For the second year running, the Universities and Colleges Employer Association (UCEA) has implemented a below-inflation pay rise – a real-terms pay cut. Last year, it was 1.5%. This year, in a cost-of-living crisis, with RPI inflation over 12%, most university staff received a tiny 3% pay rise.
3% falls far short of Unison’s pay claim (RPI plus 2%). That’s why we’re taking action again. But it is double last year’s pay offer, and the highest increase for years, which shows that strikes get results.
Unison represents professional services staff: everyone from admissions and exams to security and cleaning. Our members are some of the lowest-paid staff, working long, unsocial hours and playing a critical role in keeping campuses open.
We’ve strengthened the dispute with an additional five universities coming out, compared to the first wave of action earlier this year. September is a critical time for universities as they enrol new students, and often run massive programmes of welcome and freshers’ events. We will cause significantly more disruption for our bosses when we walk out over the next few weeks.
We can strengthen our position even further by linking up with other workers. University teaching staff in the University College Union (UCU) took 18 days of strike action this year, coordinated with Unison at several universities, and they’re currently being balloted again. If we continue to escalate the action, get more universities out on strike, and coordinate our dispute with UCU and other striking workers, we could win a significantly improved pay offer.
- The National Shop Stewards Network pre-TUC congress Action Summit on Sunday 16 October in Brighton – a hybrid event – couldn’t be at a more important time. Socialist Party members will be there alongside other workers, strikers and young people, to keep the pressure up on the TUC to act. All strike together! If the Tories attempt to implement their new anti-trade union plans, they should be met with a 24-hour general strike.
We say:
- All strike together for a real pay rise! The Trades Union Congress (TUC) must step up and organise to coordinate action
- If the Tories try to implement their new anti-trade union plans, they must be met with a 24-hour general strike
- The TUC should launch an appeal to build a massive strike fund to assist those unions on the front line
- Kick out the Tories
- Starmer’s New Labour doesn’t speak for us: fight for a new working-class party
- Nationalise rail, mail, energy and utilities under democratic working-class control and management, with compensation only on the basis of proven need Take the wealth off the super-rich. For a socialist alternative to capitalism’s poverty and crisis
