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Union negotiators publish sceptical response to general secretary’s strike resolution claims
A group of negotiators for the University and College Union have poured cold water on general secretary Jo Grady’s claim that an agreement to end strike action over pay, conditions and pensions is “in reach”.
In a statement published on 6 March, some of the union’s elected negotiators in the “four fights” dispute said they were “concerned” by Grady’s public discussion of offers the union made to employers to end the industrial action. All the statement’s authors are members of the UCU Left platform.
UCU Left presently holds a majority of places on the union’s higher education committee and effectively has a veto over putting any agreement with employers to a ballot of the entire membership. Ballots closed in elections to the union’s national executive committee on 4 March and results will be known early next week.
Staff are on strike at 74 universities across the UK, either over the Universities Superannuation Scheme dispute, the pay dispute or both. The USS row is over whether staff or employers should pay for higher pension contributions and, if so, at what level, while the ‘four fights’ dispute covers pay levels, casualisation, workload and gender and ethnicity pay gaps.
On 5 March, Grady said the union had softened its stance and was willing to accept a pensions contribution level for staff of 8.4 per cent rather than 8 per cent, and a pay rise of 3 per cent rather than 3 per cent plus RPI, which would be around 5.2 per cent. However, USS employers warned the offer was “not serious” and the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association, which negotiates with the union over pay, said the talks were “ongoing”.
In a statement signed by four union members—including Grady’s former rival for the general secretary role, Jo McNeil—UCU Left said the negotiators had not been made aware of Grady’s stance before her update was published.
“It is important to note that these negotiations have not yet resulted in an offer. Nothing is on the table and nothing is agreed. The current situation is that after constructive discussions on the pay-related elements of the claim, the employers’ representatives were sent away to consult with their members,” they wrote. “In this context we are concerned that the General Secretary put out a statement on Thursday that was neither discussed nor agreed with the negotiators.”
The UCU Left signatories added that it was “difficult to discuss an offer that does not exist”, and they stressed that employers “can afford to meet our claim in full” for a 3 per cent rise plus RPI. The four signatories – Mark Abel, Marian Mayer, Jo McNeill and Sean Wallis—urged members to keep striking for the final week.
“All the negotiators are strengthened by every single striker and picketer. We now need to sustain and strengthen the action,” they added. The union and Universities UK held further talks in the pension dispute on 6 March, which broke up without resolution.
UCU has been approached for comment.