UCEA “full and final offer” in 2024-25 pay round

All the way through the spring, and through the many travails experienced by the University and College Union (an inconclusive election on a low turnout, staff going on strike over claims of discrimination and inequality: really only Rishi Sunak has had a worse 2024 so far), the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has been negotiating with the five campus trade unions (the aforementioned UCU, Unison, Unite, GMB and EIS/ULA) as a part of the New JNCHES process that exists to settle the 2024-25 pay round.

In recent years we’ve had fractious accounts of every twist and turn of this process, with accusations flying between the unions (UCU in particular) and employers. Nearly every one has ended in mediation at ACAS.

But 2024-25 has been different – an initial three meetings in April and May were followed by anodyne joint statements about further discussions. Further discussions continued through May and June, concluding on 26 June. Unions have until the end of the week beginning 8 July to respond to a “final offer” from employers, published today.

It is worth reminding ourselves of the unions’ claim:

• RPI plus two per cent on pay (or a flat rate of £2,500 if greater)
• All pay points to be above the Foundation Living Wage (currently £12.00 outside of London)
• Joint work on workload, contracts, inequalities in pay
• A review of the pay spine

The employers have offered a staged uplift of between 2.5 per cent and 5.7 per cent, with an extra £900 for everyone on 1 August, and the remainder added (based on your spine point, with the lowest paid getting topped up to the full 5.7 per cent, and the 2.5 per cent applying to those on pay point 38, around £44,000 and above) in March 2025.

The preamble notes the poor prevailing financial conditions for the sector, including TPS contribution rises, declines in income from international recruitment, and home fee freezes – though it does note a projected return to (CPI) inflation rates of around 2 per cent and below over the rest of 2024 and 2025.

Inflation sits (May 2024) at 2.8 per cent (this is CPIH – which will replace RPI entirely in 2030), while the union’s favoured measure of RPI is at 3 per cent. This is not anything like a blanket inflation plus 2 per cent offer – it is more generous (but not as generous as the alternative £2,500 requested) at lower spine points, but less generous (though still likely to be at or near inflation by the time it is implemented) higher up.

Importantly, this increase is on top of ensuring all pay points are above the national living wage, a long overdue development for the many ancillary staff that work at our universities and colleges. We don’t get an increase to the Foundation Living Wage, with the excuse that this will be covered within the review of the pay spine.

That latter would be implemented before the 2025-26 pay year, and there are terms of reference (alongside the terms for joint work on contract types, equality gaps, and workload) attached to the offer. On contract types, UCEA has already agreed to consult members about action on zero hours contracts. On equalities and workload, terms are identical to the work agreed during 2023-24 which – because of ongoing disputes – never happened.

Other union asks (a 35 hour work week, the Green New Deal, inequalities in pensions, local changes to the post-92 national contract) are outside of the terms of New JNCHES.

Usually, we’d also cover the immediate union response at this point – however UCU have been on strike today so there is nothing to report. UCEA notes that the HEC meets on Friday, so it is possible a response will emerge then.

It is doubtful that we can read much into the comparatively long gestation period or frequent protestations of goodwill from both sides. It is to be welcomed that we have not spent the spring in dispute, and that we’ve not seen widespread industrial action in the sector this year – but by no means have either of these outcomes been avoided yet.