Further update on negotiations with trade unions

Dear colleagues,  

I am writing to provide an update on recent meetings and negotiations with our trade union colleagues over priority issues and pensions.  

We welcome these constructive developments and are hopeful that a resolution may be reached soon.  

Pay and priority issues  

Following another meeting earlier this week, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and the Joint HE Trade Unions have issued a joint statement. It confirms that talks have now concluded on the terms of reference for pay spine, workload, contract types and pay gaps negotiations. 

The aim is now focused on constructively addressing these priority issues through further negotiations. You can see all the ways in which we are trying to address these issues of concern at UCL here.    

As updated in my message of 1 March, there has also been a national pay uplift of between 8% and 5% with an interim payment of part of that backdated to staff from 1 February 2023. Where we have more local control, UCL has also decided to apply the full 5% increase to the London Allowance backdated to 1 February. These will both be added to your salary payment at the end of this month.  

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pensions  

Universities UK (UUK), the body that represents USS employers including UCL, issued a joint statement with the University and College Union (UCU) outlining how both parties are working collaboratively together on the future of USS pension scheme benefits.  

Recent monitoring figures have shown an improvement in the financial position of the USS pension scheme and, while some volatility remains, the consensus view is that this will allow reconsideration of both benefit and contribution levels. We will keep you updated as the valuation and employer consultation process (due to run between July and October) progresses. 

Strike action  

UCU are now consulting their members on whether they wish to stand down action while they formally consider the proposals.  

The union's Higher Education Committee will meet tomorrow (Friday 17 March) to decide on their next steps. Our understanding is that the remaining strikes planned for this week (Thursday 16 March, Friday 17 March) will continue while UCU members are consulted. The days of strike action currently planned for next week are Monday 20 March, Tuesday 21 March and Wednesday 22 March. We will keep you updated as soon as we know if there are any changes to this.  

We would like to remind staff who have taken part in strike action so far to please use the online reporting system to declare each day that you took part. Departments also must keep a local record of cancelled classes in which the names of teaching staff must not be recorded. They should only record teaching instances that have been impacted. This data will be used only in response to potential OIA complaints, student questions or legal claims. There is more information about industrial action available on our FAQs page. 

We recognise that this has been a period of uncertainty and difficulty for many of you and we are hopeful that these positive developments may mean a resolution can be reached.  

We will continue to keep you updated with further news. 

Best wishes,

Donna Dalrymple

Chief People Officer, UCL