Turnout hampers strike plans in UK university pay dispute

Combined with results of pensions ballot, union has mandate for walkouts at less than four in 10 institutions polled

十一月 5, 2021

Source: Eleanor Bentall

A final round of ballot results has left the UK’s main higher education union with a mandate to strike at less than four in 10 of the institutions that it polled.

Announcing on 5 November the results of its ballot on a walkout over pay and working conditions, the University and College Union said that 70.1 per cent of members who voted backed the action.

However, while 52 branches with a “yes” vote hit the 50 per cent turnout threshold that is legally required for industrial action in much of the UK, 89 fell short or voted “no”. Two institutions in Northern Ireland, where the turnout threshold does not apply, also supported a strike.

The results were announced less than 24 hours after the UCU reported a 76 per cent “yes” vote for strike action over cuts to pensions provided by the Universities Superannuation Scheme. However, 31 of the 68 campuses where ballots were held failed to achieve a 50 per cent turnout.

Across both disputes, the UCU now has a mandate to strike at 58 universities: 21 over pay, 33 over pay and pensions, and four over the USS only. This is out of 152 institutions that were polled in total.

Jo Grady, the UCU’s general secretary, claimed that the combined ballot results gave the union “a big mandate to take strike action, at a time of our choosing”.

“This result is a clear vote of no confidence in the so-called leaders of our universities, with staff telling them in no uncertain terms that they have had enough of pay and working conditions being run into the ground,” Dr Grady said.

At the heart of the pay dispute was employers’ offer of a 1.5 per cent minimum rise for 2021-22, with unions demanding a £2,500 uplift instead, as well as action on inequality, casualisation and workload issues.

But the Universities and Colleges Employers Association said the results of the ballot on the issue were “a clear indication that the great majority of university union members, as well as wider HE employees, understand the financial realities for their institution”.

“These disaggregated ballot results are disappointing for UCU, and [its higher education committee] now faces awkward discussions and has very difficult decisions to make regarding strike action,” a Ucea spokesman said.

Branches falling short of the 50 per cent threshold in the pay ballot included the universities of Exeter, Oxford and Southampton, Cardiff and Newcastle universities, and Queen Mary, University of London.

The UCU, which had previously indicated that strikes could take place before Christmas, has said that its higher education committee will meet on 12 November to decide on next steps, including “whether and when to re-ballot some branches”.

If strikes go ahead, it would be the fourth round of widespread walkouts in little over three years, further disrupting the education of undergraduates who have also seen their on-campus learning significantly interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com

UCU pay and working conditions ballot 2021: the results

Institutions supporting strike action and passing 50 per cent threshold

Institution	Turnout (%)	Yes vote (%)
University of the Arts London	60.9	65.8
Aston University	59.1	57.5
Birkbeck, University of London	61.8	70.4
University of Birmingham	62.5	68.4
University of Bradford	52.3	65.9
University of Brighton	60.5	57.4
University of Bristol	52.2	70.8
University of Cambridge	52.3	64.1
University of Central Lancashire	52.8	73.4
University of Chester	62.0	78.8
Courtauld Institute of Art	50.7	57.1
University of Dundee	58.9	74.0
Durham University	63.7	72.9
University of Edinburgh	59.2	74.8
Edinburgh Napier University	54.8	70.6
University of Essex	61.0	74.7
University of Glasgow	59.6	74.2
Glasgow School of Art	54.3	57.4
Goldsmiths, University of London	70.9	80.8
Greenwich University	55.1	61.1
Heriot-Watt University	66.2	71.9
Royal Holloway, University of London	54.0	71.3
Keele University	62.5	66.5
University of Kent	53.4	74.9
King’s College London	64.7	79.1
Kingston University	60.1	70.4
Lancaster University	52.7	70.4
University of Leeds	61.4	69.4
University of Leicester	50.2	59.6
University of Liverpool	54.6	69.8
Liverpool Hope University	52.5	68.4
London School of Economics	57.1	84.6
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine	55.2	74.1
Loughborough University	59.7	59.2
University of Manchester	50.4	74.4
Manchester Metropolitan University	60.4	79.2
University of Northampton	50.2	62.1
University of Nottingham	63.3	64.0
Open University	54.3	68.3
Queen Margaret University	63.4	53.5
University of Roehampton	63.0	62.4
Royal College of Art	67.8	85.8
Royal Northern College of Music	70.0	89.3
University of Salford	51.4	82.0
University of Sheffield	60.9	73.0
Sheffield Hallam University	53.9	61.4
SOAS University of London	62.5	87.4
University of St Andrews	56.5	75.2
University of Stirling	50.6	62.5
University of Sussex	54.1	75.8
UCL	50.1	73.3
University of York	54.0	61.2

Institutions supporting strike action but not passing 50 per cent threshold

Institution	Turnout (%)	Yes vote (%)
University of Aberdeen	47.1	56.8
Abertay University	49.0	72.3
Aberystwyth University	40.9	64.7
Anglia Ruskin University	28.8	73.0
Arts University Bournemouth	31.1	85.7
Bangor University	34.9	64.3
University of Bath	47.0	72.8
Bath Spa University	45.5	54.0
University of Bedfordshire	32.0	68.1
University of Bolton	19.8	77.8
Brunel University London	41.6	72.7
Buckinghamshire New University	18.2	62.5
Canterbury Christ Church University	38.8	70.5
Cardiff University	47.1	71.6
Cardiff Metropolitan University	42.0	75.0
University of Chichester	44.2	50.0
City, University of London	49.9	70.2
University for the Creative Arts	43.2	80.7
University of Cumbria	31.5	62.7
De Montfort University	34.7	60.5
University of Derby	30.7	72.1
University of East Anglia	46.1	68.1
University of East London	37.3	76.1
Edge Hill University	25.1	56.5
University of Exeter	47.2	69.9
Falmouth University	43.9	80.7
Glasgow Caledonian University	45.7	53.0
University of Gloucestershire	37.3	72.0
University of Hertfordshire	30.2	62.3
University of Huddersfield	48.7	51.7
University of Hull	38.4	67.5
Leeds Arts University	33.8	73.9
Leeds Beckett University	43.6	63.5
University of Lincoln	47.0	68.8
Liverpool John Moores University	42.6	74.1
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine	19.6	55.6
London Metropolitan University	36.5	73.7
London South Bank University	38.8	74.3
Middlesex University	31.4	74.8
Newcastle University	49.9	73.0
Northumbria University	46.8	73.0
Norwich University of the Arts	31.8	92.9
Nottingham Trent University	41.1	74.5
University of Oxford	46.4	69.9
Oxford Brookes University	49.6	76.0
University of Plymouth	46.3	70.3
University of Portsmouth	38.5	75.0
Queen Mary University of London	47.8	80.4
Rose Bruford College	31.7	61.5
Royal Academy of Music	24.1	71.4
Royal Agricultural University	0.00	0.00
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama	39.5	78.1
Royal College of Music	9.1	100.0
Royal Veterinary College	39.5	50.0
Senate House, University of London	49.7	61.0
University of South Wales	22.2	72.2
St George’s, University of London	23.1	94.4
St Mary’s University, Twickenham	35.3	73.2
Solent University	36.1	69.4
University of Southampton	49.2	59.9
Staffordshire University	31.2	71.6
University of Strathclyde	43.5	70.1
University of Suffolk	36.4	71.9
University of Sunderland	34.8	72.5
University of Surrey	43.9	63.2
Swansea University	46.9	77.7
Teesside University	29.7	86.1
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance	32.4	68.2
University College Birmingham	10.6	80.0
University of Wales Trinity Saint David	42.5	81.5
University of Warwick	44.4	73.0
University of the West of England	35.2	81.9
University of West London	23.6	82.1
University of Westminster	49.8	70.1
University of the West of Scotland	43.1	72.7
University of Wolverhampton	26.8	67.2
University of Worcester	42.7	51.0
Wrexham Glyndwr University	18.4	81.3
Writtle University College	45.2	63.2
York St John University	42.3	71.1

Institutions not in support of strike action

Institution	Turnout (%)	Yes vote (%)
Bishop Grosseteste University	53.5	23.7
Bournemouth University	57.2	49.7
Harper Adams University	19.6	42.1
Leeds Trinity University	61.7	47.6
Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts	82.9	32.8
Newman University	27.9	45.5
Plymouth Marjon University	23.6	46.2
Robert Gordon University	43.2	47.4
University of Winchester	52.4	42.6