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Pay Dispute
May. 19th, 2006 05:44 pmAs many will have seen if they've seen any of the TV news over the last week, the pay dispute between lecturing staff and universities in the UK has, after two and a half months of industrial action by staff and only one morning of negotiation with employers, finally begun to actually interfere with students' exams and graduation. here's a couple of interesting snippets about what's going on.
From today's Guardian:
"Unloved and overlooked by all governments, academics have seen their pay slide in comparison with other professions. Between 1981 and 2001, non-manual average earnings rose by 57.6% above inflation. Over the same period, lecturers' pay increased by at most by 7.1%, and in some cases less than that. University vice-chancellors have had fat increases in recent years; their staff have not. The current pay offer, of 12.6% over three years, only just begins to make up the difference. It is not hard to see why lecturers are unhappy."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1778463,00.html
Also a report about what's happening at Northumbria University:
"Members at Northumbria University have not set examinations so the
management did all of the preparation. But in the examination halls today
they handed out the answers along with the examination papers."
For those who think the 23% over three years claim is ridiculous:
The expected public sector rise over the next three years is about 14% (or around 4.5% per year). According to our figures, University lecturing staff have had, on average, a shortfall of 2% per year for over twenty years compared with the average public sector pay rise. If that continues for another twenty years, academics will be earning the same as average manual wages.
Universities are receiving between 20 and 25% increase in their funding over the next three years through a combination of:
new student fees of ~2000 extra per student per year, starting in 2006 and following that cohort through;
an increase in HEFCE funding of 5% above inflation
a significant increase in the support funding for research projects to pay 80% of the estimated full economic cost of the research, up from about 25% of the full economic cost.
From today's Guardian:
"Unloved and overlooked by all governments, academics have seen their pay slide in comparison with other professions. Between 1981 and 2001, non-manual average earnings rose by 57.6% above inflation. Over the same period, lecturers' pay increased by at most by 7.1%, and in some cases less than that. University vice-chancellors have had fat increases in recent years; their staff have not. The current pay offer, of 12.6% over three years, only just begins to make up the difference. It is not hard to see why lecturers are unhappy."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1778463,00.html
Also a report about what's happening at Northumbria University:
"Members at Northumbria University have not set examinations so the
management did all of the preparation. But in the examination halls today
they handed out the answers along with the examination papers."
For those who think the 23% over three years claim is ridiculous:
The expected public sector rise over the next three years is about 14% (or around 4.5% per year). According to our figures, University lecturing staff have had, on average, a shortfall of 2% per year for over twenty years compared with the average public sector pay rise. If that continues for another twenty years, academics will be earning the same as average manual wages.
Universities are receiving between 20 and 25% increase in their funding over the next three years through a combination of:
new student fees of ~2000 extra per student per year, starting in 2006 and following that cohort through;
an increase in HEFCE funding of 5% above inflation
a significant increase in the support funding for research projects to pay 80% of the estimated full economic cost of the research, up from about 25% of the full economic cost.
