University of Brighton Workers To Strike Again Over Wages

Thursday, 16 February 2023 11:36

By Dominic Kureen @WriteOnDom

Higher education staff in the South East of England are walking out over the coming days in a third wave of strikes over inadequate pay, says UNISON.

Administrators, cleaners, library, security and catering workers – many of them the lowest paid in the university sector – are among those taking industrial action.

Staff at the University of Brighton will be taking strike action today and tomorrow (February 16 and 17) and next Monday and Tuesday (20/21).

They are joining colleagues in Universities across England who will be taking action at different points of the month.

The employees are asking for a proper pay rise to help them cope with soaring prices. This follows several years where wages have failed to keep pace with inflation, UNISON says.

This will be the third wave of industrial action this academic year. Strikes have already taken place at both institutions in October and November.

The dispute is over the 3% pay offer made by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) last May.

This was rejected by university support staff but paid to most of them in August.

With the lowest measure of inflation still in double digits, says the union, the rise in living costs is more than three times greater than the workers' pay increase.

The union's pay claim for 2023/2024 is for a flat-rate rise of £4,000 – or an increase that matches the highest measure of inflation plus 2%.

UCEA has proposed bringing forward part of next year’s pay increase for higher education staff so that it's paid from February. But UNISON says this still won't make up for next year's offer because it's so far below inflation.

UNISON South East regional secretary Steve Torrance said:

“University workers don’t want to keep going on strike but they’ve been left massively out of pocket and have no other option.

“These problems are even more acute in cities like Brighton, where the cost of living is particularly high.

“Year upon year of below-inflation pay rises and soaring costs mean employees are leaving the sector for better wages elsewhere.

"These strikes could be averted if university employers did the decent thing and came back with a fair offer.”