2024/25 New JNCHES

[AlltheFs]

Does anyone know why the pay negotiations are so quiet this year? No updates since mid May that I can see and no offer tabled?

Has anyone seen any updates on this since the commitment to write to unions last week?

No I have been keeping an eye out too, but nothing.

I had a search this morning, didn't find anything...

Final offer was supposed to be communicated wb 26 August. Typically, no information on that (which probably tells us the final offer is no different to the original)

Think I found it on UCEA, zero difference to last offer from what I can see.

Yes looks like they’re not budging, surprise surprise. What a waste of time!

No surprises then. I'll try to remember how hard up my uni is when the VC is talking about trips to Australia and India, and the digital team are flown first class to the US.

Looks identical, no movement. I can't believe nobody challenged them on this staged 900 now plus completion of the uplift in March 2025 structure. This will materially weaken pay through 2024-25 for lots of mid-scale staff, with actual year-on-year rises lower than the percentages they claim to be offering. Complete distortion of numbers designed to 'polish the turd' that is essentially a terrible far below RPI offer. Strikes here we go, I guess.

Do you think there’s any appetite for strikes? I feel like the MAB broke something quite fundamental in my dept and really don’t know if we’d make a ballot threshold now.

Hard agree

Massively fucked off with the whole thing, and frankly if other public sector staff can have 5.5% pay rises, I’ll be holding out for similar.

And I’m far up the scale. I could earn probably triple my salary in industry, and my employer would lose millions in grant income and it would put a significant number of jobs at risk, and they would have a gaping hole in a major infrastructure project. I’m not in it for the money but at the same time they need to not take the piss.

I would have said no, until the new government settled all those other pay disputes.

And even without those public sector pay deals, I wasn’t expecting UCU members to be stupid enough to vote for a second term of Jo Grady, so I’m inclined to think they’ll also vote for more of the same when it comes to industrial action.

The government won’t be sympathetic to lecturers, though (and the public certainly won’t). In fact, I strongly suspect they’ll dig their heels in to prove that they’re not a pushover when it comes to strikes.

I think this is sound analysis, GCAcademic …

Jeez you only need to glance at the ‘universities will go bust’ thread in HE to see how little people a) understand what we do and b) value it.
Only take a look if you’re feeling very robust, and thanks to the few people on there trying to correct misunderstandings.

Innit. I could weep.

There is some indication UCU wants to strike, link here https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/10/lecturers-threaten-strikes-over-funding/
Pretty unsually Grady giving exclusive interview to Telegraph!

Branch comms came out yesterday at our place.

Anything you can share? At my place the comms were very much “oh we’re still considering how to respond”. In the meantime, the university has decided the process is over. I confess that I just don’t get it. How can you continue to play the game when the opposition have gone home?

Ours says they can't give us anything until they hear back from UCU with the option of going to ACAS or some other decision (another ballot for industrial action?) is reached.

We were informally surveyed on whether we’d vote for industrial action on the basis of it, and the negotiators report was shared with us.
its a terrible offer. Especially that institutions can opt out on basis of financial hardship.

I know. It feels like a particular form of self-hatred to see the assumptions being made there and the ignorance about what is one of the UK’s most successful sectors internationally. Probably only second to the entertainment industry.

where do people think their Covid vaccinations come from? And so on.

Our university VC sent out an email saying that pay awards were likely to be affected due to missed student recruitment targets. They were looking to recruit more than usual due to financial shortfalls however only recruited the same as last year. Clearing recruitment was adversely affected by RG universities lowering their entrance criteria.
I actually work at a RG and a non RG and we didn't get anything from the RG VC but at the non RG there are lots of rumblings.
The tighter restrictions on international students bringing dependents seems to have resulted in a cascade affect.

Yes, the usual misapprehensions and rush to judgement on that thread ...

Sussex: https://staff.sussex.ac.uk/news/article/65485-update-on-national-pay-negotiations

We massively missed our recruiting targets so I’m expecting to get nothing as my reading is that a university can opt not to pay it. Redundancies are a more likely outcome. Especially with the lack of investment in a collapsing sector and fees frozen while costs escalate.

The university itself is silent on the matter so far.