Union says employees have 'impossible' workload and poor pay


Picket line outside University of Roehampton during a previous dispute

Staff at the University of Roehampton went on strike this Wednesday (1 December) in a dispute over pay and working conditions. The industrial action by members of the University and College Union (UCU) is set to continue until Friday.

They join staff at 57 other universities across the country in striking for three days.

The UCU says its members are at breaking point over ‘impossible’ workloads and that action will escalate in new year if employers continue to ignore staff demands. At Roehampton, it is claimed that workload modelling ignores many academic tasks, leaving academics putting in on average the equivalent of two days’ unpaid overtime. Academic staff at Roehampton say they are not even given enough time to read and mark student assignments properly or give students the feedback they deserve.

“We don’t want to go on strike. We do our jobs because of our students. We know how hard the past couple of years have been, but high workloads mean that we are at breaking point, with many colleagues off sick with stress and many others reporting poor mental health, sleeping disorders and exhaustion”, a Roehampton UCU activist said.

Many academics at the University of Roehampton are employed on a casual basis, often for years on end. Employed and paid only for 10 weeks, they are rehired the next term, after a break of several weeks unpaid and there is no sick pay.

Picket lines will be held outside main university entrances on each of the three strike days

The action was backed last month in a strike ballot and the National Union of Students says its research shows that 73% of students support university staff taking strike action.

The UCU says that staff pay has fallen by 20% after twelve years of below inflation pay offers whilst almost 90,000 academic and academic-related staff are employed on insecure contracts. In addition the gender pay gap in UK universities sits at 15%, whilst the disability pay gap is 9% and the race pay gap is 17% Staff say they are also experiencing a crisis of work-related stress with over half showing probable signs of depression.

To resolve the pay & working conditions dispute UCU is demanding a £2.5k pay increase for all staff, as well as action to reduce workloads, pay inequality and insecure contracts.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said, ‘It is deeply regrettable that staff have been forced into taking industrial action again, but sadly university bosses have shown little interest in negotiating in good faith and addressing the serious concerns of staff over falling pay, massive pension cuts, equality pay gaps and the rampant use of insecure contracts.

‘The truth is that staff are asking for the bare minimum in a sector awash with money. But sadly, the only time vice chancellors seem to listen is when staff take action, and those leading our universities should not underestimate their determination to change this sector for the better.

‘We are grateful to all the students who are supporting staff taking industrial action because they understand that staff working conditions are student learning conditions. Vice-chancellors now need to concentrate on asking themselves why strikes have become an annual occurrence and seek to resolve this dispute in order to avoid more needless disruption to learning. If they continue to ignore the modest demands of staff then we will be forced to take further industrial action in the new year, which even more branches will join.’

A spokesperson from the University of Roehampton said, “Approximately 1 in 5 of those eligible to join the Union from our University voted in favour of strike action, and 61% of those who received a ballot either voted against the action or did not vote.

“Our top priority since we were notified of the planned strike action (on 16 November 2021) has been to do the best we can to minimise the impact the strike will have our students and staff. We have written to both with guidance on the matter, including on the academic support available during this period of industrial action and we will be continuing to keep our lines of communications with them open.

“Despite the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the higher education sector, as a University, we have implemented the national pay award for staff in full and maintained the London weighting on salaries, even though we have lost £3m of government funding allocated for this. We will begin consultation with the UCU on a new academic workload allocation model on 25 November. Although our gender pay gap is one of the lowest in the sector (with currently no gap in median pay), we are also committed to further advancing equality, diversity and inclusion.”

December 1, 2021