Universities have made offers to staff striking in long running disputes over pay, working conditions and pensions. Walk outs at every university in Wales and across Britain are still due to continue tomorrow and Friday (March 16 and 17) while the new offers are considered by union members.
The University and College Union (UCU) said the offers pave the way for the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension to be restored by August 2024. Members had protested that changes to pensions would leave them tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket in retirement.
They new offers also “pave the way” to ending the use of involuntary zero-hour contracts in higher education, and to agreeing new standards, frameworks and principles to tackle other forms of casualised contracts, reduce workloads and close equality pay gaps, the UCU said.
Read more: Who is taking part in the Budget Day walkouts?
Staff at every university in Wales are among 70,000 UCU members across Britain who are on strike today, tomorrow, and Friday. They are also set to strike for three days next week on March 20 to 22. The walk outs will continue while members are asked whether they wish to stand down action to formally consider the offer.
In the pension dispute, UCU is demanding employers revoke cuts and restore benefits. The union said cuts made last year would see the average member lose 35% of their guaranteed future retirement income. For those at the beginning of their career, it claimed the losses were in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. The union said the original pay offer was worth 5% to most members.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Today, on our tenth day of strike action and after weeks of intensive negotiations, university employers have finally agreed to put forward a set of proposals on pay, conditions and pensions. This breakthrough is down to the strength, determination and sacrifice of university workers who have stood on picket lines.
“The proposals will now move through our union’s democratic processes, and strike action will continue until our 70,000 UCU members have had the chance to have their say.”
UCU members have taken 10 days of action so far in these disputes, three days in November 2022, and seven days since Wednesday 1 February 2023.
In Wales, staff at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, and Swansea universities, and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David are walking out over pay, conditions and pensions. Staff at Cardiff Met, the University of South Wales, and Wrexham Glyndwr have a different pension scheme and are striking over pay and conditions only.
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