UCEA and TUs conclude the 2023-24 pay round Dispute Resolution Procedure over pay

UCEA and the HE trade unions have now completed the New JNCHES Dispute Resolution Procedure for the pay negotiations of the 2023-24 negotiating round* following a week of intense discussions facilitated by Acas.

UCEA, representing 144 participating HE employers, had made the final pay offer of between 8% and 5% from August 2023 with a proportion of that to be paid from February, some six months in advance of the usual pay uplift date, with HE institutions and trade unions fully recognising the urgent inflationary pressures currently facing all staff.

Both parties agreed that further progress was made on the uplift at the lower end of the pay spine and that a pay impasse, rather than an agreement, has been reached. This completes the negotiations and discussions for pay, agreed as the priority phase by both parties in a bid to provide some early pay uplift six months early.

As part of the next phase of negotiations for 2023-24, both parties agreed to proceed to talks next week to determine the jointly agreed work necessary on other priority issues, including a joint commitment over a revised/refreshed pay spine, and a commitment to negotiations on contract types, workload and pay gaps.