UCL-UCU: Pay increase announced. 3%. Must Try Harder.

Colleagues will have received a message from UCL HR (via UCL News) that UCL intends to raise salary points by 3%, imposing the national offer made by the employers’ organisation, UCEA. 

But with the Bank of England predicting CPI will hit 13% (RPI at 17.7%) by the end of the year, this is simply inadequate, and not a meaningful ‘cost of living increase’.

There is a tapered increase greater than 3% for the very lowest spine points in the national offer (increased further by UCL to comply with the London Living Wage foundation minimum), but for most staff - and all staff on UCU-recognised spine points including PGTAs - the offer is 3%. 

If the Bank of England is correct, this offer will in real terms be equivalent to a pay cut of at least 10%, more than 3 salary scale points for every UCL employee. Or to put it another way, we are all being demoted by half a grade in a single year. 

This is on top of the impact of the ~20% cut over the previous decade. This fall in salaries is unprecedented in the post-war period. It is likely to prove catastrophic, with knock-on effects in the wider economy as staff cut back to bare minimum spending. This is why the Bank of England are predicting a recession.

During the JNCHES negotiating round this year, this offer was tabled before the most recent increases in inflation were announced. When inflation was reported to be rising further, the employers’ representatives in UCEA flatly refused to increase their figure. They stood firm even when several employers publicly told staff they would be prepared to pay more. 

With inflation sky-rocketing, UCEA has stopped pretending that pay increments are ‘cost of living’ payments, and are left attempting to ‘spin’ their offer as something more than it is.

It is disappointing to see the HR department of a World-leading University making the elementary mathematical error of conflating pay increases with average pay increments. To draw an imprecise analogy, this is like confusing climate change (a rising mean) with weather (fluctuation about the mean). Robyn Orfitelli (Sheffield) has plotted what this has meant in practice.

Pay increases raise the value of salary points. Pay increments progress individuals up the grade. But as people leave on higher points, new staff join lower down.

• In areas of low turnover, staff get stuck at the top of the grade.
• In areas of high turnover, leavers are replaced by new starters on lower salary points and then move up. (cf. a stationary escalator.)

London Weighting

Finally, it is worth noting that UCL’s statement talks about the potential for local bargaining over ‘targeted’ increases in pay. The unions are not seeking 'targeted' pay increases. Inflation and the cost of living is not 'targeted'.

We are seeking an uplift on London Weighting, for all staff, to £5,000, which we know UCL can easily afford. As a flat rate, that increase will have the greatest benefit to the lowest paid. Flat rate increases also address the fact that many of us have similar ‘fixed costs’ which are increasing quickly. We are also asking for our colleagues in MSSL to be brought into London Weighting.

Such an increase won’t offset the losses of all of our members, but it would make the greatest difference to our lowest paid colleagues.

The national pay dispute

Please look out for news in relation to the national pay dispute as well.

All of the five trade unions represented at JNCHES - UCU, UNISON, UNITE, EIS and GMB - have rejected the 3% pay offer (at least a 10% pay cut).

UNISON is currently balloting its members over industrial action. Our union, UCU, will be making announcements shortly.

So please watch this space. More information from UCU should be out over the course of the next week.

UCL UCU Executive Committee

Twitter: @ucl_ucu

UCL UCU website

UCL UCU facebook page