Public disagreements over tactics may derail the University and College Union’s push for a better pay deal for UK higher education staff, but members are still confident of finding a way forward that keeps the pressure on employers.
The union’s general secretary, Jo Grady, was accused of undermining union democracy after she posted on Twitter a video pushing back on calls for an indefinite strike in the new year, even though the action had already been backed by the higher education committee.
The intervention, made just as the latest round of talks on a new pay deal began, prompted her opposite number at the negotiating table, Raj Jethwa, the chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, to call for an end to “infighting” for the good of the pay talks and the sector.
Dr Grady – who has backed taking escalating, targeted strike action – has called for members to get involved in shaping the strategy ahead of what will likely be heated meetings aimed at resolving the divisions in the new year.
