The employers have broken another promise on pay, not just to us but to the government too, and on the basis of recent experience, that should not be a surprise to anyone. When the top-up fees bill was going through Alan Johnson the then minister announced an extra £5bn in funding from fees and grants and said: "university vice-chancellors tell us that, in general, at
least a third of that money will be put back into the salaries and
conditions of their staff. That will make an enormous contribution in tackling a very serious and deep-seated problem.'
Yesterday I therefore handed a simple claim to the employers which asked them to confirm that the commitment they had given to the minister would be kept to, and that at least one-third of all extra income coming into the system would be used to boost staff pay. They were unable to do this, citing the fact that they did not yet know how much money they would have
and denying that they had even told the minister this at all. Personally I wonder how they are able to allocate precise sums of money for student bursaries but not for staff pay, and at the meeting I also expressed surprise that finance departments in multi-million pound institutions were not yet making estimates of future income.
The employers' response means that we will have to campaign yet again for our share of higher education income. The difference is that this time, this year, we will be joined by our colleagues in the other academic unions NATFHE and EIS as we seek to make the employers honour their promises.
I and my colleagues in the other unions have told the employers that we are prepared to meet them further to resolve this issue but that unless they are prepared to confirm their previous commitment by the end of November, we will report this to our National Executives with a view to
recommending a ballot for industrial action.
AUT members are gaining ground at the moment. Around 20% of you are now covered by framework deals which provide a good start to our campaign to turn around two decades of salary stagnation. We are now pressuring the institutions who employ the remainder to get their act together or risk falling behind these early implementers.
However the only way to secure a big enough share of the extra funding to decisively transform overall pay levels in the sector is through a joint union campaign targeted at the national employers' body UCEA. With unity among the academic unions this is a major opportunity for AUT members to win better salaries, and to consolidate the gains some staff have already seen. Please get involved in the campaign by contacting your local
association or going to http://www.aut.org.uk/paybacktime.
Together let us make sure that the extra income across the sector,
including in Scotland and Wales where there is additional grant, really translates into a better deal for staff.
Please send your comments, questions or suggestions for the campaign to
mailto:matt.waddup@aut.org.uk in my office.