Staff at the University and College Union have escalated a pay dispute with their bosses and accused them of “prioritising the pay of senior management”.
Talks broke down last week between Unite, the union representing over 200 UCU employees, and UCU management to the point where the union has demanded a meeting with UCU senior officers including president Justine Mercer.
UCU has offered staff a five per cent pay rise backdated to August 1, 2023, plus a 3.5 per cent pension-related uplift from January 1, 2024, a London weighting increase to £5,400 and a one-off non-consolidated £1,200 payment.
Employees have rejected the offer, instead demanding the percentage increases be translated into a flat sum for all staff, a compromise that a Unite UCU spokesperson told FE Week wouldn’t cost UCU any more than its offer.
