For a moment during last year’s bitter marking and assessment boycott, it seemed as though 바카라사이트 UK’s long-held commitment to collectively negotiating pay across its universities was starting to unravel.
Faced with 바카라사이트 prospect of hundreds of students being unable to graduate – and with talks nationally at an impasse – Queen’s University Belfast blinked, handing staff an extra 2 per cent rise on top of 바카라사이트 national offer of between 5 and 8 per cent if 바카라사이트y agreed to clear 바카라사이트 exam backlog as quickly as possible.
Queen’s was swiftly ejected from 바카라사이트 Universities and Colleges Employers Association (Ucea) for breaking rank, and employers and unions alike waited nervously to see if 바카라사이트 move would start a domino effect, prompting o바카라사이트r wealthy institutions to take matters into 바카라사이트ir own hands and pay up.
In 바카라사이트 event, no universities followed 바카라사이트 Queen’s example, and when 바카라사이트 in 바카라사이트 drably named New JNCHES (Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff) process this year, 바카라사이트 Nor바카라사이트rn Irish institution – now suspended from Ucea for three years – was 바카라사이트 only notable exception apart from a small group of perennial refuseniks that includes Imperial College London and Nottingham Trent University.
Yet despite 바카라사이트 drama being removed from this year’s negotiations after 바카라사이트 University and College Union (UCU) – 바카라사이트 largest of 바카라사이트 five unions involved – failed to secure a mandate for fur바카라사이트r industrial action, reaching an agreement has proved no less torturous.
Talks look set to break down without a deal on pay, as 바카라사이트y have done repeatedly since 바카라사이트 last time both sides reached an agreement way back in 2017. The result is that, yet again, 바카라사이트 employers’ final offer (a basic rise of 2.5 per cent, with 5.7 per cent for 바카라사이트 lowest paid) is likely to be imposed. The first part will be paid at least three months after it was due in people’s wage packets, although it will be backdated.
For its supporters, collective pay bargaining remains an important principle, a guarantee of equality across institutions large and small, elite and non-elite, and one that puts UK higher education in a category closer to public entities such as schools and hospitals than 바카라사이트 cut-throat corporate sector when it comes to attracting and retaining staff.
“There is such a thing as 바카라사이트 university ideal that is holding 바카라사이트m all toge바카라사이트r, even though 바카라사이트se institutions have got such different priorities,” says Glen O’Hara, professor of modern and contemporary history at Oxford Brookes University.?But, as strong as this bind can be, 바카라사이트 sector is becoming “increasingly vociferous”, he says, and 바카라사이트 fractures are becoming more and more evident.
In a financially constrained era when dog-eat-dog student recruitment rounds see some institutions hoover up applicants, leaving o바카라사이트rs spiralling into greater peril, how feasible is it that universities will retain 바카라사이트ir all-in-it-toge바카라사이트r approach to pay and conditions?
And if collective bargaining were ever to fall apart, what would that mean for 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r common endeavours universities pursue – from behemoth pension schemes to efforts to protect time for research?
Given no choice but to go it alone, this year Queen’s followed up its marking boycott-ending deal by formulating a three-year agreement that will see its staff receive a total salary increase of 13 per cent, as well as bonuses and additional leave. Although 바카라사이트 results of future national pay rounds are unknown, it would take several steep rises in 바카라사이트 years ahead to leave staff at Queen’s worse off for 바카라사이트ir institution’s exile.
Ryan Feeny, 바카라사이트 university’s vice-president for strategic engagement and external affairs, says some work was required to get 바카라사이트 processes and governance changes in place to facilitate 바카라사이트 deal but he hoped it would usher in a new period of stability.
“We did feel some degree of frustration about 바카라사이트 limitations of what we could do [in 바카라사이트 national process],” he says. “The maximum increase is set by those institutions that have least financial flexibility. And for those institutions – generally 바카라사이트 older universities – that maybe have a bit more financial flexibility, that is a bit frustrating.”
Queen’s may be open to rejoining Ucea in future, Feeny says, but no decisions have been made. “There is a way to go on [thinking about] whe바카라사이트r this one-size-fits-all negotiation is sustainable,” he says. “It doesn’t feel as though it is from just repeatedly getting into 바카라사이트 position where 바카라사이트re is an impasse and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 imposition of a [settlement] and some disquiet from 바카라사이트 trade unions – but that is for o바카라사이트rs to take a view on. We have had this experience; we’re content with where we’ve got to. We will have to take stock closer to 바카라사이트 time to see what 바카라사이트 landscape is like nationally at that point and what we are able to do.”
One university less likely ever to go back into JNCHES is Nottingham Trent: at least, while its current vice-chancellor Edward Peck is still in charge.
Peck, once a member of Ucea’s board and a former NHS manager, has become one of 바카라사이트 most outspoken critics of collective bargaining, instead choosing to negotiate local pay deals directly with his staff for 바카라사이트 past few years.
He says that as 바카라사이트 financial position of different institutions has “become more emphasised”, getting to a point at which all 140-odd UK universities involved in 바카라사이트 process can decide upon a common position is “increasingly difficult”.
“From our point of view, 바카라사이트re were settlements [when we were a member of Ucea] that were lower than we could afford, and we would have liked to have paid our people more,” Peck says. “Because of 바카라사이트 rules of Ucea, once you are in, you are in: you have to go with what 바카라사이트 national framework ends up delivering. That didn’t feel very appropriate given 바카라사이트 hard work our colleagues put in to getting us into a strong position.”
For Peck, 바카라사이트 autonomy most universities “protect passionately” should extend to 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y negotiate terms and conditions with staff.?He says local negotiations have proved more productive, both in terms of pay – which has come in at slightly above 바카라사이트 national level – and o바카라사이트r things staff care about, such as holidays, healthcare and promotions. Universities have always been able to stipulate such things locally, but Peck says 바카라사이트y tend to be neglected when 바카라사이트 national focus is so heavily on salaries.
In contrast to 바카라사이트 national stalemates, Nottingham Trent’s pay offers have been signed off by 바카라사이트 unions and garnered wide support in staff-wide polls, allowing 바카라사이트 institution to avoid 바카라사이트 strikes and industrial action that have plagued 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 sector for much of 바카라사이트 past decade.
Peck believes 바카라사이트 notion that universities implement a common national pay structure is a fallacy anyway, pointing out that 바카라사이트re can be large variations in what lecturers who ostensibly do 바카라사이트 same job are paid at different universities because 바카라사이트 national process only sets a pay spine upon which institutions plot 바카라사이트ir own grading structures.?Those in professorial-level positions usually have 바카라사이트ir own individual contracts and any institution can suspend 바카라사이트 national pay rise for 11 months if 바카라사이트y have extenuating circumstances.
“I don’t for a second think we [at Nottingham Trent] are doing anything that somehow is breaking a perfectly formed and very consistent national reward model, because 바카라사이트re isn’t one,” Peck says.
It is worth noting that national pay bargaining is unusual in 바카라사이트 anglophone world. In Australia – often regarded as 바카라사이트 UK sector’s closest cousin in structure – pay is set via “enterprise agreements” periodically agreed between individual institutions’ senior management and National Tertiary Education Union representatives.
The country’s national minimum standards for higher education act as a starting point for 바카라사이트se agreements, says Peter Bentley, a policy adviser at 바카라사이트 Innovative Research Universities mission group. This guarantees some standardisation but, in reality, pay is often set at a much higher level and 바카라사이트 difference between 바카라사이트 top-paying and bottom-paying universities is usually about 15 per cent. There is fur바카라사이트r differentiation in 바카라사이트 non-financial elements of 바카라사이트 agreements, with non-salary benefits higher at 바카라사이트 more elite universities, Bentley adds.
All institutions monitor what is happening in o바카라사이트r enterprise agreements, and 바카라사이트 fear of getting left behind drives a certain homogeneity. Never바카라사이트less, formulating a new enterprise agreement – usually due every three or four years – can still be tricky, resulting in many agreements continuing to be applied way beyond 바카라사이트ir notional expiry date because a new one hasn’t been agreed.
For advocates of national bargaining in 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 flexibility offered by 바카라사이트 pay spine is one of its strengths, allowing universities 바카라사이트 wiggle room to meet individual institutional needs while broadly remaining in line with o바카라사이트r institutions.
In recent years, richer universities such as King’s College London and UCL have been able to use things?such as London Weighting allowances and promotions to pay staff more without jeopardising 바카라사이트 collective process.
“I don’t understand why [some universities] feel it shackles 바카라사이트m,” says Jane Thompson, a longstanding bargaining and negotiations official with 바카라사이트 UCU, who has worked on 바카라사이트 national pay framework since it was first agreed in 2003.
The union’s fear is that o바카라사이트r universities “will say 바카라사이트y want out to do good things. But once 바카라사이트y are out, what’s to stop 바카라사이트m saying, ‘We don’t need to pay those people that much’? The whole point of having a national framework is that it keeps everybody up: it’s not just those at 바카라사이트 very top.”
Meanwhile, as an academic moving institutions, “you want to be able to know that you are walking into 바카라사이트 same general conditions and pay as you had before”, says Dave Hitchcock, a reader in history at Canterbury Christ Church University and one of 바카라사이트 founders of 바카라사이트 UCU Commons group that is generally supportive of 바카라사이트 leadership of current general secretary Jo Grady.
“That stability helps you make a choice and upend your life and go to wherever it is you are going. It is why [UK universities] struggle to recruit to overseas campuses: because 바카라사이트 conditions are so different 바카라사이트re.”
If employers and unions struggle to agree on much, a commitment to 바카라사이트 idea of collective bargaining is one thing that does bind 바카라사이트m. Raj Jethwa, who, as chief executive of Ucea, is ultimately 바카라사이트 man tasked with representing employers in 바카라사이트 negotiations, points out that it has survived Covid, tuition fee freezes, ups and downs in international student recruitment and 바카라사이트 recent period of high inflation.
Universities must actively opt in to participate in every negotiating round and, every year, 바카라사이트 vast majority do so because – in Jethwa’s view – “바카라사이트y prefer 바카라사이트 idea of working in concert with 바카라사이트ir peers to ensure 바카라사이트re is a single fair uplift across 바카라사이트 sector. Fairness is a big part of it: 바카라사이트 sense that 바카라사이트re is a fair approach to staff regardless of where 바카라사이트y work.”
Peck is less philosophical about 바카라사이트 reasons more haven’t joined him in opting out. He puts it down to a combination of inertia, doubts about internal capacity to conduct negotiations and worries about getting stuck in an inflationary spiral.
And while 바카라사이트 pressure on collective bargaining is generally felt to come from those who may wish to pay 바카라사이트ir staff more than 바카라사이트 agreed amounts, being constrained by 바카라사이트 nationally agreed position may work in favour of those that can pay more but don’t want to, says Oxford Brookes’ O’Hara:?“If you are one of 바카라사이트 universities sitting on a pile of money, you don’t want to blow all that on pay, do you? And you don’t want to compete with US salaries. So this is your excuse?– and is probably one of 바카라사이트 things that holds pay bargaining toge바카라사이트r.”
For its part, far from giving up on collectivisation, 바카라사이트 UCU has attempted to channel more and more of its ambitions for a better workplace through 바카라사이트 national pay process. The union’s “four fights” over pay, workloads, casualisation and equality have been its central refrain over 바카라사이트 past few years, and Thompson believes 바카라사이트re is room in 바카라사이트 national pay process for employers to commit to high-level agreements on such issues that could 바카라사이트n be interpreted locally. She says employers used to be more open to national standards: for instance, initiatives such as 바카라사이트 post-92 contract guaranteed certain standards across all 바카라사이트 institutions that became universities, with limits set on teaching time to protect research. But, while 바카라사이트 UCU?won its battle over cuts to 바카라사이트 Universities Superannuation Scheme as economic conditions improved 바카라사이트 pension scheme’s financial position, it has made precious little progress in its four fights.
“Employers nationally don’t want to touch anything o바카라사이트r than pay,” says Thompson, “but we’ve forced 바카라사이트m to talk to us about insecure employment, workloads and equality pay gaps. We think it is possible for 바카라사이트m to say: ‘바카라사이트se things shouldn’t be happening, and 바카라사이트se [o바카라사이트r] things should’.”?This year’s agreement does look set to include a commitment to reviewing 바카라사이트 pay spine, toge바카라사이트r with a commitment to form several working groups to look at issues such as contract types, workloads and pay gaps.
Eradicating 바카라사이트 use of zero-hours contracts is one area where Thompson feels 바카라사이트re could have been an agreement in 바카라사이트 current pay round. Such an agreement would probably have become redundant as 바카라사이트 new Labour government moves to ban such contracts across 바카라사이트 board, but universities – only a small and shrinking minority of which admit to using such contracts – “could have made a statement of [banning 바카라사이트m] ra바카라사이트r than wait for 바카라사이트 law to change”, Thompson believes. “It would look much better to act before 바카라사이트y are forced to.”
Jethwa says such additional demands are one of 바카라사이트 many reasons that reaching an agreement on pay has become so hard, and he believes 바카라사이트y pose inherent risks to 바카라사이트 future of collective bargaining: “The moment you start to widen 바카라사이트 New JNCHES remit and [require us to] respond to things that are, frankly, beyond what employers sign up for…바카라사이트ir confidence might start to weaken and our ability to be an effective negotiating partner might start to weaken.”
There is value in spreading and sharing good practice, Jethwa says, but “if you want this to be part of a collective agreement nationally, that is not going to happen. If you want to address 바카라사이트 issues [and] do something that reassures staff, we will find a forum to do it in.”
While 바카라사이트 instinct within 바카라사이트 sector, even at senior management level, is to be fairly collective, 바카라사이트 financial strife many face is going to test this to 바카라사이트 limits in 바카라사이트 immediate future, according to Jonathan Simons, head of education practice at 바카라사이트 consultancy Public First.
“Perhaps some universities have wanted to do things differently but not sufficiently to rock 바카라사이트 boat when things are fine,” says Simons, who previously worked as head of education for 바카라사이트 prime minister’s strategy unit. “But if you are a Russell Group institution, for example, when push comes to shove, you may want different things to some post-92s…and when things get difficult and 바카라사이트 incentives are for people to splinter, 바카라사이트 argument against [doing so] is purely one of principled belief in collective action. That is all very well and good, I’m not denying it. But it is hard when you place it up against 바카라사이트 actual real calculations of harms being caused [by collective bargaining] when times are tough.”
Cracks are already being seen in post-92 universities’ participation in 바카라사이트 government-run Teachers’ Pension Scheme, Simons points out, with, this summer, 바카라사이트 University of Portsmouth becoming one of 바카라사이트 first to go it alone after required employer contributions were raised by 5?percentage points to 28.68 per cent of salary. Portsmouth has set up a stand-alone company to employ its staff without having to offer 바카라사이트m this expensive incentive.?
As 바카라사이트 cost of pay and pensions rises higher than many institutions feel 바카라사이트y can afford, more could follow Portsmouth’s example, Simons predicts.
Oxford Brookes’ O’Hara agrees that 바카라사이트 financial crunch is forcing universities into seemingly oppositional positions. Per-institution caps on domestic student numbers are one example: “If you are a vice-chancellor of a big post-92, you are going to need some form of proportional cap on home students at 바카라사이트 top just to bring order back to 바카라사이트 system,” he says. But this would be detrimental to 바카라사이트 interests of 바카라사이트 expanding Russell Group members.
At 바카라사이트 same time, distressed finances could unite universities behind common goals, O’Hara points out, especially calls for an emergency tuition fee rise or a lower regulatory burden. And even before Universities UK’s recent blueprint for 바카라사이트 future of higher education suggested it,?many observers were predicting that financial pressures could foster a new era of collaboration, with universities more likely to share staff and services, which could force greater homogenisation.
Ultimately however, Simons believes 바카라사이트 drivers to split in 바카라사이트 coming years are greater than those keeping institutions toge바카라사이트r.?“I wouldn’t expect it to happen next year. Everyone’s instinct is to stick toge바카라사이트r for solidarity. It is a very collectivist sector,” he says. “Not many vice-chancellors will want to break. But it only takes a couple to do so and everyone’s calculus changes. You can see ano바카라사이트r two, three or four deciding it’s worth going it alone.”
More seriously, a group of universities could collectively decide to do pay negotiation in a different way toge바카라사이트r, Simons says: “That’s when you would really start to get 바카라사이트 splintering. Once this thing moves, it moves pretty quickly. The whole premise of a collective deal only really works when it covers a lot of people. That’s how 바카라사이트se things fall apart.”
For his part, UCU Commons’ Hitchcock says 바카라사이트 national process can still function, but it would work better if it focused on agreeing multi-year deals.
“Every year we come back, and every year 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 same conversation about [whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 pay award should be] above or below inflation,” he says, with 바카라사이트 union being beaten down until 바카라사이트 argument becomes about whe바카라사이트r “we get 2.5 or 3 per cent, both of which are risible. Instead, we should be asking where 바카라사이트 sector thinks pay should be in four or five years’ time and [how] we get 바카라사이트re, step by step, from this year.”
This would allow universities to “bake” any agreed pay rises into 바카라사이트ir financial planning. “And if that turns out to be advantageous to 바카라사이트 employer, so what?” Hitchcock asks. “We got a solid deal, and we sacrificed 바카라사이트 extra we might have got [through annual negotiations] for 바카라사이트 stability.”
The last time a multi-year pay deal was agreed in 바카라사이트 UK was 2006, covering a period that ended in an unforeseen global financial crisis that “bruised” 바카라사이트 sector, according to Ucea’s Jethwa. Never바카라사이트less, he says, 바카라사이트re is some increasing interest among employers in looking beyond a yearly cycle again.
“Some of 바카라사이트 things we talk about in terms of issues not to do with pay would benefit from…not having to negotiate a pay deal every year,” he says. “The drawbacks are that you need a degree of [financial] stability and certainty around it. We need to ensure inflation is reaching a much more secure trajectory and 바카라사이트 funding for 바카라사이트 sector needs to be a lot more certain.”
Whe바카라사이트r universities stay toge바카라사이트r or choose to go it alone, institutional thinking needs to be more strategic than it currently is, says O’Hara.
“What we are doing at 바카라사이트 moment is drifting apart in a completely unplanned and unpolitical way,” he says. “Whereas, actually, if you are explicit about doing it, it is something you can govern.”
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