Turnout hampers strike plans in UK university pay dispute

Combined with results of pensions ballot, union has mandate for walkouts at less than four in 10 institutions polled

November 5, 2021
Chris Havergal
Strike placard
Source: Eleanor Bentall

A final round of ballot results has left the UK’s main higher education union with a mandate to strike at less than four in 10 of the institutions that it polled.

Announcing on 5 November the results of its ballot on a walkout over pay and working conditions, the University and College Union said that 70.1 per cent of members who voted backed the action.

However, while 52 branches with a “yes” vote hit the 50 per cent turnout threshold that is legally required for industrial action in much of the UK, 89 fell short or voted “no”. Two institutions in Northern Ireland, where the turnout threshold does not apply, also supported a strike.

The results were announced less than 24 hours after the UCU reported a 76 per cent “yes” vote for strike action over cuts to pensions provided by the Universities Superannuation Scheme. However, 31 of the 68 campuses where ballots were held failed to achieve a 50 per cent turnout.

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Across both disputes, the UCU now has a mandate to strike at 58 universities: 21 over pay, 33 over pay and pensions, and four over the USS only. This is out of 152 institutions that were polled in total.

Jo Grady, the UCU’s general secretary, claimed that the combined ballot results gave the union “a big mandate to take strike action, at a time of our choosing”.

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“This result is a clear vote of no confidence in the so-called leaders of our universities, with staff telling them in no uncertain terms that they have had enough of pay and working conditions being run into the ground,” Dr Grady said.

At the heart of the pay dispute was employers’ offer of a 1.5 per cent minimum rise for 2021-22, with unions demanding a £2,500 uplift instead, as well as action on inequality, casualisation and workload issues.

But the Universities and Colleges Employers Association said the results of the ballot on the issue were “a clear indication that the great majority of university union members, as well as wider HE employees, understand the financial realities for their institution”.

“These disaggregated ballot results are disappointing for UCU, and [its higher education committee] now faces awkward discussions and has very difficult decisions to make regarding strike action,” a Ucea spokesman said.

Branches falling short of the 50 per cent threshold in the pay ballot included the universities of Exeter, Oxford and Southampton, Cardiff and Newcastle universities, and Queen Mary, University of London.

The UCU, which had previously indicated that strikes could take place before Christmas, has said that its higher education committee will meet on 12 November to decide on next steps, including “whether and when to re-ballot some branches”.

If strikes go ahead, it would be the fourth round of widespread walkouts in little over three years, further disrupting the education of undergraduates who have also seen their on-campus learning significantly interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com

UCU pay and working conditions ballot 2021: the results

Institutions supporting strike action and passing 50 per cent threshold

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Institution Turnout (%) Yes vote (%)
University of the Arts London 60.9 65.8
Aston University 59.1 57.5
Birkbeck, University of London 61.8 70.4
University of Birmingham 62.5 68.4
University of Bradford 52.3 65.9
University of Brighton 60.5 57.4
University of Bristol 52.2 70.8
University of Cambridge 52.3 64.1
University of Central Lancashire 52.8 73.4
University of Chester 62.0 78.8
Courtauld Institute of Art 50.7 57.1
University of Dundee 58.9 74.0
Durham University 63.7 72.9
University of Edinburgh 59.2 74.8
Edinburgh Napier University 54.8 70.6
University of Essex 61.0 74.7
University of Glasgow 59.6 74.2
Glasgow School of Art 54.3 57.4
Goldsmiths, University of London 70.9 80.8
Greenwich University 55.1 61.1
Heriot-Watt University 66.2 71.9
Royal Holloway, University of London 54.0 71.3
Keele University 62.5 66.5
University of Kent 53.4 74.9
King’s College London 64.7 79.1
Kingston University 60.1 70.4
Lancaster University 52.7 70.4
University of Leeds 61.4 69.4
University of Leicester 50.2 59.6
University of Liverpool 54.6 69.8
Liverpool Hope University 52.5 68.4
London School of Economics 57.1 84.6
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 55.2 74.1
Loughborough University 59.7 59.2
University of Manchester 50.4 74.4
Manchester Metropolitan University 60.4 79.2
University of Northampton 50.2 62.1
University of Nottingham 63.3 64.0
Open University 54.3 68.3
Queen Margaret University 63.4 53.5
University of Roehampton 63.0 62.4
Royal College of Art 67.8 85.8
Royal Northern College of Music 70.0 89.3
University of Salford 51.4 82.0
University of Sheffield 60.9 73.0
Sheffield Hallam University 53.9 61.4
SOAS University of London 62.5 87.4
University of St Andrews 56.5 75.2
University of Stirling 50.6 62.5
University of Sussex 54.1 75.8
UCL 50.1 73.3
University of York 54.0 61.2

Institutions supporting strike action but not passing 50 per cent threshold

Institution Turnout (%) Yes vote (%)
University of Aberdeen 47.1 56.8
Abertay University 49.0 72.3
Aberystwyth University 40.9 64.7
Anglia Ruskin University 28.8 73.0
Arts University Bournemouth 31.1 85.7
Bangor University 34.9 64.3
University of Bath 47.0 72.8
Bath Spa University 45.5 54.0
University of Bedfordshire 32.0 68.1
University of Bolton 19.8 77.8
Brunel University London 41.6 72.7
Buckinghamshire New University 18.2 62.5
Canterbury Christ Church University 38.8 70.5
Cardiff University 47.1 71.6
Cardiff Metropolitan University 42.0 75.0
University of Chichester 44.2 50.0
City, University of London 49.9 70.2
University for the Creative Arts 43.2 80.7
University of Cumbria 31.5 62.7
De Montfort University 34.7 60.5
University of Derby 30.7 72.1
University of East Anglia 46.1 68.1
University of East London 37.3 76.1
Edge Hill University 25.1 56.5
University of Exeter 47.2 69.9
Falmouth University 43.9 80.7
Glasgow Caledonian University 45.7 53.0
University of Gloucestershire 37.3 72.0
University of Hertfordshire 30.2 62.3
University of Huddersfield 48.7 51.7
University of Hull 38.4 67.5
Leeds Arts University 33.8 73.9
Leeds Beckett University 43.6 63.5
University of Lincoln 47.0 68.8
Liverpool John Moores University 42.6 74.1
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 19.6 55.6
London Metropolitan University 36.5 73.7
London South Bank University 38.8 74.3
Middlesex University 31.4 74.8
Newcastle University 49.9 73.0
Northumbria University 46.8 73.0
Norwich University of the Arts 31.8 92.9
Nottingham Trent University 41.1 74.5
University of Oxford 46.4 69.9
Oxford Brookes University 49.6 76.0
University of Plymouth 46.3 70.3
University of Portsmouth 38.5 75.0
Queen Mary University of London 47.8 80.4
Rose Bruford College 31.7 61.5
Royal Academy of Music 24.1 71.4
Royal Agricultural University 0.00 0.00
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama 39.5 78.1
Royal College of Music 9.1 100.0
Royal Veterinary College 39.5 50.0
Senate House, University of London 49.7 61.0
University of South Wales 22.2 72.2
St George’s, University of London 23.1 94.4
St Mary’s University, Twickenham 35.3 73.2
Solent University 36.1 69.4
University of Southampton 49.2 59.9
Staffordshire University 31.2 71.6
University of Strathclyde 43.5 70.1
University of Suffolk 36.4 71.9
University of Sunderland 34.8 72.5
University of Surrey 43.9 63.2
Swansea University 46.9 77.7
Teesside University 29.7 86.1
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance 32.4 68.2
University College Birmingham 10.6 80.0
University of Wales Trinity Saint David 42.5 81.5
University of Warwick 44.4 73.0
University of the West of England 35.2 81.9
University of West London 23.6 82.1
University of Westminster 49.8 70.1
University of the West of Scotland 43.1 72.7
University of Wolverhampton 26.8 67.2
University of Worcester 42.7 51.0
Wrexham Glyndwr University 18.4 81.3
Writtle University College 45.2 63.2
York St John University 42.3 71.1

Institutions not in support of strike action

Institution Turnout (%) Yes vote (%)
Bishop Grosseteste University 53.5 23.7
Bournemouth University 57.2 49.7
Harper Adams University 19.6 42.1
Leeds Trinity University 61.7 47.6
Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts 82.9 32.8
Newman University 27.9 45.5
Plymouth Marjon University 23.6 46.2
Robert Gordon University 43.2 47.4
University of Winchester 52.4 42.6
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Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, which are not subject to a 50 per cent threshold, also voted in favour of strike action.

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