Unite Branch of the University of East London: HE Pay Ballot

Please take the time to read the attached documents – they explain why we are having a ballot on this year’s pay offer (this is also attached) as is a paper ballot form that you are welcome to use and send back to me before Friday 9^th September.

I encourage all members to think most seriously before voting – we are hoping to hold meetings at both Stratford (Tuesday) and Docklands (Wednesday) as it may well be worth considering other issues before you vote You will know of course that we have submitted a response to the security Review and are awaiting the outcome of that . Some of you will already be disappointed with the Olympic strategy document and others have issues ranging from restructuring to voluntary severance. All of these I believe are connected via Managements decision making processes and can therefore be affected by a positive response to a single issue.

Please bear in mind that at the moment it is a CONSULTATIVE ballot and the better the response the better our arguments will be

I am writing to you to advise on the outcome of pay bargaining for staff working in Higher Education Universities and Colleges and your Employer subscribing to the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA).

UCEA on behalf of your Employer have made an offer on pay for 2011. The offer is a lump sum worth £150. The offer is a consolidated payment, that means it goes on to salary scales for those on the 51 point pay spine.

UCEA calculate the offer is worth 0.5% of the total HE pay bill in subscribing Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s).

The full offer is described in the UCEA offer letter attached.

There are other aspects included in the negotiations but nothing major has emerged from those additional items.

Your Unite negotiators considered the offer at a meeting of the Unite Education National Industry Committee on the 19^th July. They considered the offer against the current inflation rate of 5%. The offer is worth 0.5% in general but it is worth more to the very low paid as a percentage of salary.

The offer also includes a marginal improvement to those HEI’s who pay an agreed London Weighting in post 92 HEI’s. The increase has been calculated as worth 0.5% in those places.

HE negotiators also noted that in recent years the offers from UCEA,

0.5% in 2009 against an inflation rate of around 3%,

0.4% in 2010 against an inflation rate of 4% and

0.5% against an inflation rate of 5%.

They noted that in real terms pay for those on the 51 point pay spine will have reduced by over 10% in terms of purchasing power over a three year period.

The negotiators are therefore recommending the offer is rejected.

The reason why they are recommending rejection is because sector pay and any increases are not keeping up with inflation and the purchasing power of pay is falling behind. In order to reverse this trend the negotiators want to force the Employers back to the negotiating table and try to improve the offer.

Other unions are consulting on the offer as well. Other unions are expected to reject the offer.

If a majority of Unite members in each HEI vote to accept the offer then UCEA will be contacted and the offer accepted on their behalf.

If the offer is rejected by a majority of Unite members in each HEI then the next step would be consideration of a formal industrial action ballot that is required by law before a union can call upon you to take any industrial action.

If the offer is rejected in your HEI and an industrial action ballot is called you would be contacted again and an industrial action ballot could be sent to your home after the consultation ballot has been counted and the result declared.

The pay consultation ballot is open to you to return your vote up to 9^th September 2011.

This is an important ballot about pay in higher education.

It is important that you vote and do not abstain otherwise your wishes are not included. Please VOTE to accept or reject. Do not throw the voting paper away. Instead record your vote by returning the ballot paper to your Unite ballot organiser.

If you have any queries on this ballot or your eligibility please contact Vera Titmus on 02476-227522 or email vera.titmus@unitetheunion.org

Yours sincerely

Mike Robinson

National Officer

HE Negotiations

Unite

FULL AND FInAL OFFER – STRICTLY Without prejudice

New JNCHES Negotiations 2011-12: UCEA’s Approach

On behalf of HEIs participating in the 2011-12 negotiations, UCEA sets out the employers’ approach for the year ahead below.

This year’s negotiating round takes place against a complex and challenging economic and sector backdrop. HEIs face a difficult funding settlement in 2011/12 and an uncertain future due to significant changes to HE funding in England and austerity measures in the devolved administrations.

UCEA’s Approach

We have considered the key elements of the trade unions joint claim as follows:

· Pay: Employers offer an increase of £150 on all points on the JNCHES pay spine.*

· London weighting: We are able to make a recommendation, in line with previous practice, of an increase equivalent to 0.5%, to Post-92 HEIs which have retained separate London weighting.

· Equality: Employers agree that assessing the impact of the final report from the Equality Working Group is important. While the report has only recently been disseminated, we are content to undertake a follow up survey in 6 to 12 months looking at usefulness of the publication and its impact on practice at HEIs.

· Family friendly issues: There is existing JNCHES guidance on Work-life balance which we are willing to update to reflect legislative and policy changes relating to, inter alia, paternity leave and flexible working.

· Pay framework concerns: Employers offer to further update the pay data in the publication (Pay in Higher Education) that followed from the joint work in the Pay Framework and Data Research Working Group. UCEA propose that the update will be undertaken by UCEA officers with the data to be scrutinized by a small data group consisting of two employer representatives, a support staff representative and an academic staff representative.

· Training and development: The Training and Development Initiative from the 2010/11 negotiations represents a positive way forward in addressing the requests for action in this area by trades unions. Discussions are already underway to form a group to work on developing an enabling framework. Employers have sought more clarity on the specific request for a technical group in the TU claim.

Workforce Change and Job Security

Employers note the conclusion of the Sustainability Issues Working Group and welcome the prospect of publishing the compendium of case studies on workforce planning and organisational change.

Other claim elements

Requests to extend / delete points from the pay spine, nationally determine pay for external examiners, and assimilate hourly paid staff are not supported by the UCEA membership as they are considered matters for local determination.

Concluding comments

We recognise that the employers’ response on pay does not meet the request for an offer with reference to RPI as requested in the TU claim. Employers, however, are committed to continuing joint working on key issues during a financially difficult and uncertain climate for HEIs.

We hope our trade union colleagues will now give this final offer fair consideration and that member views are sought at an early stage.

* This is equivalent to a 0.5 per cent increase on the overall pay bill.

11 July 2011