Mary on strike in 2022. Photo: Ian Pattison
Mary on strike in 2022. Photo: Ian Pattison

Demand full public funding

Mary Finch, Unison rep, personal capacity

Higher education workers have been offered another paltry pay increase of just £1,200. The pay offer is being imposed – but it is reported that as many as 20 universities are ‘deferring’ the payment!

In a consultation, 79.6% of Unison members voted to reject the offer, so now we will be balloted for strike action.

Unison represents workers in professional services – everything from admissions and administration to cleaning and security. Together with the University and College Union (UCU), we have the power to completely shut universities.

In 2022, Unison held its first national strike for around a decade, coordinated with UCU. Unison branches at just 16 universities took action (because the ballot was disaggregated by university and most areas didn’t make it over the Tory anti-union ballot threshold), but this was a massive boost to members’ confidence and won a better pay increase. Members were offered 3% – well below inflation, but double the previous year’s rise of 1.5%.

Coordinate

Bold and coordinated strike action can achieve further gains on pay, and other issues such as workload and pay gaps. Unison nationally could campaign to recruit new members and galvanise existing branches, bringing more universities out on strike.

The sector is in crisis, and the only solution so far offered by the bosses and Starmer’s Labour is punishing students with higher tuition fees. The unions can offer a way forward for workers and students by fighting for free, publicly funded and democratically run education.


UCU members add:

In UCU there will be a consultative ballot over whether to take strike action over pay. The Union’s Higher Education Committee has rejected the pay award, but accepted the non-pay elements of the offer, agreeing to enter further talks on casualisation and workload.

Vote ‘yes’

Delivering a resounding ‘yes’ vote is possible. Members know the offer is not enough and we will not be able to get more without a fight. But at a recent branch delegates meeting, there were also reservations voiced about whether more can be won. These reservations are partly a response to the university funding crisis, which at the sharp end is contributing to job losses. Members are also affected by the experience of recent disputes being mishandled by the UCU leadership.

That means that campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote must be linked to a serious industrial and political strategy – putting demands on Starmer’s Labour for full public funding – in which members have democratic control of the dispute at every stage.