Category Archives: Pay

What’s it all about: 4-Fights

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Out of bed early and onto the picket to fight for better pay and working conditions, then through to Glasgow to attend the UCU rally and stand with other staff and students from across Scotland.

Pay and working conditions dispute

The 4-Fights is a national dispute on pay and working conditions. We are asking for:

  • an increase of inflation plus 2% or 12%, whichever is the higher.
  • the elimination of precarious contracts
  • action on gender, ethnic, and disability pay gaps
  • a standard 35 hour week for full time employees with no loss of pay

In May 2022 a pay settlement of 3% was forced on us by our employers. Figures show that we now earn around 25% less than we did in 2009 adjusted for inflation. Our pay demands incorporate an uplift to cover the current cost of living plus recovery of some of this pay erosion. In the latest round of talks UCEA, representing the employers, have made a tiered offer which would see a meagre uplift of only 4-5% for most.

Across the sector around one half of teaching staff are on fixed-term contracts, and two thirds of research-only staff. Despite widespread condemnation many institutions still use zero hour contracts. We are asking for national approach to end these insecure employment practices.

More work needs to be done to tackle equality. There are significant pay gaps between Black and white staff, across genders, and which affect disabled staff. These same groups are disproportionally likely to be on precarious contracts and/or affected unmanageable workloads.

Workloads have soared due to huge class sizes, pressure to secure funding, inefficient IT systems, poor work environments, and the reduction of support through constant cycles of ineffective restructuring. The average working week in higher education is now over 50 hours.

Workload, pay inequality, and insecure contracts are linked. We are forced to do more for less. It undermines our professionalism and affects our health. At the time of writing no commitments have been secured on casualisation, equality, and workloads.

The Principal will say that that every 1% of pay rise increases running costs by £1M and that the university cannot afford it, but 2021 the 5 key management personnel at Heriot-Watt took home more than £1.1M between them. This is the Principal, the Deputy Vice-Principal, the University Secretary, the Global chief Operating Officer and the Global chief Financial Officer. Executive pay costs at Heriot-Watt rose by more than 40% between 2020 and 2021 while staff were offered 0% at the JNCHES national pay negotiations. We seem to be able to afford this.

We can also afford an overspend of around £5M and rising on a catastrophic Oracle ERP project which has so far failed to deliver on anything but the most basic of reporting. And we can also afford to nudge closer and closer to a debt cliff as we borrow to finance vanity projects instead of investing in staff and improving teaching, laboratory, and working spaces – the bricks and mortar of the university in which revenues are earned.

Every year staff are expected to deliver more for less, while the our senior leadership team deliver less for more. We only have to look at staff satisfaction surveys and student feedback to see where the problems lie. We demand better for staff. Fair pay, reasonable workloads, and a safe stress-free workplace that is environmentally sustainable. Join us on the next picket on Valentine’s Day 14 February and help make our employers show staff some love.

If you can’t attend in person please observe the strike. Don’t work. Don’t check your email. Don’t participate in virtual meetings about work. On non-strike days we continue to work action short of a strike (ASOS). This includes: working to contract; not covering for absent colleagues; removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action; not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action; and not undertaking any voluntary activities.

Online Members’ Meeting Thursday 9 February

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There will be a members’ meeting tomorrow at 2.00pm via Zoom. Our guest speaker, Jackie Grant elected USS negotiator on the JNC, will provide an update on the USS dispute.

Details on how to join the meeting have been sent by email.

It is now time to put your out-of-office on and down tools for another 2 days of strike action. You can see some examples on the UCU website at https://www.ucu.org.uk/Out-of-office or roll your own. Here is one that we prepared earlier:

I will not be responding to work-related emails on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 February, because I will be on strike.

I am taking part in industrial action over pay, working conditions, and pensions. If you are a student, please be patient. I will respond to your email on my return. If you are a member of staff who is in the USS pension scheme but not on strike please note that under the current employer proposals you can expect to lose between 30 and 50% of the projected value of your pension in retirement, and that your pay has been reduced by more than 20% in real terms since 2009 on top of all the extra work which you are expected to do for free.

You can find further information about the disputes at https://www.ucu.org.uk/rising and you can support us by joining the UCU and taking part in the industrial action or by donating to our local hardship fund. 

Our Students Support the Strikes

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Students Support the Strikes

A great turn-out for this first day of the latest wave of strike action. Support and hot drinks provided by our amazing Heriot-Watt Student Union and the Society for Progressive Students. A big thank-you to all.

Last week, Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) made a new offer in pay negotiations. Unfortunately, it failed to meet our demand for fair pay and better working conditions. Our vice chancellors are getting rich by ripping off staff and students. The fight continues. Next week we will on strike on Thursay and Friday and this action will continue to escalate until our employers come back with a fair offer.

If you have been affected by the strike action please write to the Principal and ask that he use his considerable influence to ensure that we all get treated fairly.

Next wave of strike action announced

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The first day in the next wave of strike action will be Wednesday 1 February, timed to coincide with TUC day of action aimed at defending our right to strike.There will be a picket from 8-10.30 am at the main entrance to the campus.

Lets make it the biggest picket Heriot-Watt has ever seen. The longer the picket line, the shorter the dispute.

The full list strike days announced fall as follows:

  • Week 1 – Wednesday 1 February
  • Week 2 – Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February
  • Week 3 – Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 February
  • Week 4 – Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February (paused during ACAS)
  • Week 5 – Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 March (paused during ACAS)
  • (No action week commencing Monday 6 March)
  • Week 6 – Wednesday 15 (new date), Thursday 16 and Friday 17 March
  • Week 7 – Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March.

Some of the dates fall into our reading week but there are always plenty of additional tasks landed on our hardworking staff during this week, and professional services work as usual.

Taking Part in Strike Action

You do not have to tell your line manager or anyone else in advance whether you will participate in strike action. Heriot-Watt will circulate details on how and when to record strike action in the ERP system in due course.

Whether you tell your students that you will be on strike is up to you. The purpose of strikes is to create maximum disruption so that the employer returns to the negotiating table with an acceptable offer. Please encourage students to make their views about cancelled lectures known to the Principal. The Student Union supports our action.

We don’t want to strike, we don’t want to lose part of our salary. But we are forced to fight for our pay, pensions and better working conditions. There is a solution but our leadership are unwilling to make a fair offer. They are failing our staff and our students.

The Cost of Striking and Strike Pay

If you think you can’t afford to strike, as yourself whether you can afford the reduction in your pension, the year on year erosion of your pay adjusted for inflation, and all of the extra work which you effectively do for free.

The net cost of striking is often lower than you think and financial support is available from the national fighting fund and the local hardship fund.

Action Short of Strike (ASOS)

We remain in ASOS in the form of working to contract. Members should:

  • only fulfil the duties explicitly expressed in your contract
  • not undertake voluntary activities
  • not cover for absent colleagues
  • refuse to reschedule classes missed due to industrial action
  • remove materials for classes that would have taken place on strike days from online learning platforms

As things stand there will be no deductions for this form of ASOS at Heriot-Watt.

 

 

 

Industrial action and the next steps in the new year – Members’ Meeting on Monday 9 January

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Happy new year and a big thank-you to everyone who took part in the strike action and who continue to take part in ASOS, working to contract.

With UCEA refusing to make an offer we need to discuss how to get the employers’ bodies to negotiate seriously on pay and conditions and pensions.

We will be holding an extraordinary branch members’ meeting to discuss industrial action and make decisions about the next steps via Zoom on Monday 9 January at 4pm.

At the meeting motions will be put to the members to establish our branch position for the Branch Delegate Meeting on Tuesday 10 January and the Higher Education Committee on Thursday 12 January. It is important that this meeting is quorate, so please attend. Deciding on the next steps is crucial and we need to hear the views of members.

If you have not received instructions on how to join the Zoom meeting, please contact the branch office.

 

 

 

Book swap on Day 3 of the picket

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It was marvellous to see such well attended pickets on all days of the strike actions so far. Of course, those who are able to attend pickets are only a fraction of those taking action. It is the withdrawal of labour that counts. I hope the strike days also afforded members the opportunity for some rest.

Reporting your participation in strike action

The union has complied with all the cumbersome bureaucracy of properly notifying employers in advance of our intention to take action collectively and in which areas.

For this round of strikes, you will be asked to enter the information in ERP after the 6 December. You should fill in ERP accurately as this signals to the employer that our members did indeed take action in high numbers.

You do not need to supply any further information. The union has complied already with its duty to provide information.

Should UCEA and UUK require any further data on strike actio n- this was supplied to them in person by a *very large* data set flowing past both their offices and the negotiations giving both quantitative and qualitative feedback on the strength of feeling.

We look forwards to employers representatives redoubling their efforts to reach a settlement.

Deductions and hardship funds

Deductions will come out of wages in January and you can make applications to the national fighting fund and local hardship fund as soon as you have a payslip showing deductions. Further information can be found at the cost of striking and strike pay page on our website and we will continue to send out reminders.

If you are hourly paid and have already lost pay due to action please apply to the fighting fund now and contact ucu@hw.ac.uk if you require further assistance on what information to provide.

Power in a union, the workers united!

Each and every one of you taking action has an impact on the employer, the Branch and the union. All the action we have taken in the past has had an effect:

  • saving our pension from closure
  • preventing even greater pay erosion
  • winning local disputes and local statements.

It has also brought us to where we are today when we have pulled the whole sector out and sent a loud and clear message to UCEA and UUK.

We need to continue to show how vital our work is and how overworked we are by maintaining strong Action Short of a Strike- take back your evenings and your weekends, do not volunteer for extra tasks, do not make up for lectures missed on strike days and do not cover for absent colleagues.

This sector has for too long been reliant on more work for less pay. Enough is enough. Things cannot go on as they are, together we are fighting for change.

 

Day 2 on the picket with Sarah Boyack MSP and in Glasgow to represent our branch at the joint EIS-ULA / UCU rally

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Striking staff and visiting students with Sarah Boyack MSP and Daisy the dog

 

Another busy picket at HWU this morning. Visits from Daisy the dog and Sarah Boyack MSP. We tried a bit of cooking on the brasier before the amazing students from @hwunion and The Society of Progressive Students came to our rescue again with hot drinks and coffee. After this group photo it was straight over to Glasgow for some of our committee members who were taking part in the joint EIS-ULA / UCU rally in Glasgow.

The next strike day will be Wednesday 30 November and we need every member to take part in order to encourage our employers to settle this dispute and end the disruption. The longer the picket lines, the shorter the dispute.

The average hourly rate of university worker is just over £20 per hour while the average hourly rate of a VC is over £250 per hour. Quite staggering when you consider just how badly some universities are being run. We deserve better. It is time that our employers started to invest in staff instead of expensive IT systems which don’t deliver, shiny new validity projects while the rest of our campuses fall into a state of dilapidation and disrepair, and generous executive salaries and perks.

So far, we have seen the biggest and most widespread picket lines in the history of higher education. If you can’t make the picket, please use this draft letter template to contact your local MP/MSP and ask for their help to end this dispute.

On Wednesday there will also be a national rally in London and UCU Scotland rally in Edinburgh. Speakers at the Scottish rally will include UCU Scotland, STUC general secretary Roz Foyer, NUS Scotland president Ellie Gomersall, and MSPs. Assemble at 12:30 for 13:00 start at the Scottish Parliament concourse.

Huge picket turnout for Day 1 of strike action and visit by Richard Leonard MSP

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UCU picket line with Richard Leonard MSP (centre), the Student Progressive Society, and visitors from some of local schools.

A big thank-you to Richard Leonard MSP, the Society for Progressive Students, and all of hardy souls who braved a chilly start and heavy traffic to make their way to the picket lines this morning. A huge turnout of nearly 100 staff, students, and visitors.

It was a rare treat to be able to welcome some junior supporters whose teachers are also on strike for fair pay and secure work.

It is not rocket science Professor Richard A Williams, as a cub reporter discovered. All we want is equal pay for the same work and a secure future where we can afford to pay our bills and feed our families. While spending on vanity projects and Vice Chancellor pay has soared, our pay and pensions have been slashed.