For the attention of PGWTs and hourly paid staff, message from the acting Branch President

Dear Colleagues,

 We would very much appreciate your support on the day of action.  However, we do recognise that if a Thursday is a regular teaching day for you, you will be disproportionately affected by taking strike action.  We would encourage you, therefore, to see whether you could do the teaching on another day, to avoid loss of pay.  If you have any questions, please do get in touch.

 Best wishes, Stephen Minta (Acting UCU President)

Thursday 31st October – joint UCU/UNISON/Unite Day of Action

31 October Strike Date announced

UCU, UNISON and Unite have called on their members working in higher education to walk out on Thursday 31 October.

Staff have been offered a pay rise of just 1% this year, which means they have suffered a pay cut of 13% in real terms since October 2008.

The squeeze on staff pay comes at a time when pay and benefits for university leaders increased, on average, by more than £5,000 in 2011-12, with the average pay and pensions package for vice-chancellors hitting almost £250,000.

Read more here