National Pay Claim

The trade union claim for 2012-13 is;

• An increase of 3.7% on all salary points to match the increase in RPI to February 2012
• A further increase of  3.3% to begin to catch up with the real terms cut in pay over the last three years
• A commitment from all universities to pay a ‘Living Wage’
• Positive proposals from employers to address the outstanding recommendations of the 2009/10 Equalities Working Group. In particular, we are seeking positive action to address the continuing gender pay gap in higher education.
• Joint proposals on pay equality for professors and senior staff
• Structural proposals on the assimilation of hourly paid staff to the national pay spine and transfer to fractional contracts
• A joint agreement on disability leave

The key headlines of the Employers final offer:

Pay: an increase of 1% on all points on the JNCHES pay spine.

London weighting: a recommendation of an uplift of 1%, in line with previous practice, to Post 92 HEIs which have retained separate London Weighting

Living Wage: It is noted that the trade unions have raised the Living Wage campaign as an important part of their claim however many HEIs are already meeting (or exceeding) the levels used within the campaign.

Approaches to professorial and senior pay systems: The employers note that the trade unions have raised concerns over institutions’ approaches to pay equality and pay systems for professors and other senior staff but assert that these matters are best dealt with at an institutional level.

Joint work on equality items: The employers offer joint work to explore the equality related issues raised in the trade unions’ claim.

Reminding institutions of the recommendations of the 2009/10 Equality Working Group.

A survey to review the impact of the final report of the Equality Working Group and its recommendations on the conduct of equal pay reviews, including hourly paid employees.

Engaging with the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) to explore the approaches to disability leave in the sector.

Analysis of the final offer

Pay

The offer of 1% is another real-terms pay cut. For most members the increase in pay over the last three settlements has amounted to approximately 1.4%. During the same period, the RPI index has increased by over 12%. The net result is a real terms cut of over 10% in the value of members take home pay.

The net loss in pay 2009 – 2011

Pay Spine Point		Total Shortfall Aug 2008 – July 2011		Loss per calendar month
22		£ 1601		£ 133
29		£ 1969		£ 164
34		£ 2282		£ 190
36		£ 2422		£ 202
43		£ 2979		£ 248
49		£ 3556		£ 296
51		£ 3773		£ 314

 

Whilst the increase in the rate of inflation may be falling slightly in 2012, RPI remained above 3.5% for the duration of the negotiating round and is forecast to be over 3% for the remainder of 2012.

Affordability of pay increases hasn’t been an issue for all staff in HE in recent years. HESA data shows that pay for Vice-chancellors and Principals has increased at almost double the rate of other staff groups since 2002 and that the number of senior non-academic staff earning over £100,000 in higher education has increased to over 1,300. 

Pay of vice-chancellors and principals (VC&P) and UK academic staff

	VC&P pay annual   increase	VC&P mean average   pay#	UK academic staff pay   annual increase	UK academic staff pay   mean average*
2002-3		£135,000		33,931
2003-4	7.0%	£144,420	5.4%	35,773
2004-5	6.0%	£153,061	2.1%	36,534
2005-6	7.9%	£165,105	6.6%	38,933
2006-7	7.7%	£177,844	5.6%	41,128
2007-8	9.1%	£193,970	5.7%	43,486
2008-9	13.0%	£219,156	7.2%	46,607
2009-10	-0.2%	£218,813	0.8%	46,998
Change 2002-3 to   2009-10		62.1%		38.5%

Financial Health of the sector

The HEFCE report , ‘Financial health of the higher education sector’ published in March 2012 reported that in England ‘the majority of the key financial indicators are the best on record, with the sector reporting strong surpluses, large cash balances and healthy reserve levels.’ They also state that the financial outcomes reported for 2010/11 are much stronger than the sector’s forecast for the year.

The percentage of staff costs as a percentage of income fell from 54.3% to 53% in the same period, which is an historical low.

In January UCAS reported that student demand within the sector remains high and that the first tranche of the fees cohort will enter the system in September 2012.

The employer’s final offer does not adequately reflect the sectors ability to pay a decent pay increase for all staff this year.

Living wage

The Joint Higher Education Unions are seeking a commitment from all higher education institutions to pay a ‘living wage’ and this has not been met.

Equality 

The gender pay gap in higher education is still much greater than in the wider economy and across the public sector.

The employer’s final offer yet again fails to actively address this issue through targeted policy intervention and active enforcement of agreed equality policies not further research.

The pay gap for the professoriate persists and increases at key points in the research assessment cycle may well be exacerbated by the REF without policy intervention and action. There is a serious problem in many institutions over the lack of transparent grading and promotion procedures for professors and senior staff. The failure of UCEA and institutions to address this undermines their role in promoting transparency and equality.

The Review of HE Governance in Scotland has recommended that the New JNCHES salary spine be expanded to cover all University employees. The trade unions share the views of the report that such a move would aid transparency, accountability and equality.

The Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) published its report ‘Enabling equality: furthering disability equality for staff in higher education’ in September 2011. The report identifies that higher education institutions are failing to meet their duties under the Equalities Act by failing to provide disability leave as a reasonable adjustment for disabled staff despite guidance being available since 2006.

The employer’s final offer is inadequate in addressing the urgent need to eliminate potential discriminatory practices in the sector.

Recommendations

The National Negotiators’ recommendations to HESC:

1. UCU members in HE should be consulted on the employers’ final offer
2. That the consultation of members will be carried out on the same basis as in 2011
3. The timetable for consultation should be as set out below
4. HEC shall receive the results of the consultation on 29 June
5. HEC should also receive a draft timetable for industrial action to commence in the autumn 2012 (should members vote to reject the final offer)
6. If members vote to reject, UCU will use the New JNCHES dispute procedure

w/c 11 June	Consultation opens	Opens 13 June and Closes 27 June
27 /28 June	National Negotiators meeting/discussions	Consultation outcome and report to HEC.
29 June	HEC	HEC considers consultation result and a draft timetable for   industrial action in the autumn 2012.( in the event members reject the final   offer)