Open University agrees deal with ‘casualised’ lecturers

Union backs temporary deal on pay for next academic year before permanent contracts are introduced

More than 4,000 associate lecturers at the Open University will receive pay rises and improved job security this autumn following a row between staff and the institution’s management.

Associate lecturers, who are not contracted as permanent staff by the OU, had been due to move to improved contracts in the autumn this year as part of an agreement negotiated with the University and College Union in 2018. But the university put the switch on hold in March, saying at the time that it was “working through a number of consequences as a result of the global pandemic”.