Unison: University of Winchester support staff strike over pay

Members of the Unison union are striking outside the university following a union vote to do so after an “inadequate” pay offer.

As previously reported, members of the union voted for industrial action after it received a five per cent pay rise offer from the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA).

The strike is expected to last until June 23, with further action from June 28 to June 30 and July 26 to July 28.

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Unison local organiser Gareth Jones told The Chronicle: “Today its all members of staff that are support staff, admin, library workers, basically the back bone of the university that are on strike for better pay.

University of Winchester support staff picket outside of the university (Image: Gareth Jones - Unison)“A few months ago there was a 5 per cent pay increase offered, which is basically a pay cut with the 13 per cent RTI inflation going back a couple of months. We have staff who are really struggling, they are using foodbanks, struggling to pay mortgages and bills. With the cost of living crisis, they have been hit hard. They have been key workers supporting the university, supporting the students back in Covid and this is how they are being treated.

“It would be nice to sit down with the university, have some negotiations, and a higher pay award offered, an inflation-busting pay rise.”

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A University of Winchester spokesperson said: “Despite diminishing investment in higher education across the country over the past decade, we have worked hard as a university to grow subjects to meet local needs, grow the number of staff working at the University and grow the positive impact our students and graduates have on the city and beyond. 

“The annual process to determine staff salaries is agreed through a national negotiating framework and not by any individual university. In March this year, in accordance with national guidance, we implemented an 8 per cent uplift in pay for those on the lowest points of the pay scale and a 5 per cent pay increase for all other members of staff on the national pay framework, backdated to February.

“This is in addition to the annual increments which are awarded automatically to the pay of staff eligible for them, resulting in a pay uplift of up to 11 per cent.”