27 January 2022
UCEA response to UCU's announcement
Raj Jethwa, UCEA’s Chief Executive said:
“It is disappointing for UCU to try to ask a minority of its members to take action again over the pay uplift from last August. It is important to remember that only a quarter of branches reached the legal threshold for industrial action in UCU’s most recent ballot. In terms of staff participation and teaching lost, the impact of industrial action so far has been fairly low in most HEIs, and even below the levels seen in the 2019 dispute. Rather than continuing this disruption, UCU should engage constructively in this year’s (2022-23) multi-employer negotiating round which is planned to begin at the end of March.”
Note:
2019 levels - in the affected universities 29.2% of UCU members took strike action over the 8-day period; this represents only 5% of all staff in these institutions: www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/7jan20/
2021 levels - www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/18january22/
For further information: Please contact Andy Fryer, Head of Communications and Membership (a.fryer@ucea.ac.uk) or Marc Whittaker, Communications and Events Manager (m.whittaker@ucea.ac.uk).
UCEA response to UCU's announcement
Raj Jethwa, UCEA’s Chief Executive said:
“It is disappointing for UCU to try to ask a minority of its members to take action again over the pay uplift from last August. It is important to remember that only a quarter of branches reached the legal threshold for industrial action in UCU’s most recent ballot. In terms of staff participation and teaching lost, the impact of industrial action so far has been fairly low in most HEIs, and even below the levels seen in the 2019 dispute. Rather than continuing this disruption, UCU should engage constructively in this year’s (2022-23) multi-employer negotiating round which is planned to begin at the end of March.”
Note:
2019 levels - in the affected universities 29.2% of UCU members took strike action over the 8-day period; this represents only 5% of all staff in these institutions: www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/7jan20/
2021 levels - www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/18january22/
For further information: Please contact Andy Fryer, Head of Communications and Membership (a.fryer@ucea.ac.uk) or Marc Whittaker, Communications and Events Manager (m.whittaker@ucea.ac.uk).
