Dear Member
Today the EIS-ULA HE Pay Dispute Statutory Ballot opened.
In the next couple of days you will receive your statutory ballot paper by post for the 2022/23 pay dispute. If you do not receive a ballot paper by Monday 3rd October, please email us at ballot@eis.org.uk and we will make sure a new ballot paper is sent out immediately.
We must achieve a turnout of at least 50% in order to be able to action the result of the ballot under the law - that means not voting is the same as voting against action. Please use your vote.
It is ultimately only with strong support from members that we can call effective action. That means each one of our members using their vote and committing to taking the strike action if called.
There is industrial action planned by Royal Mail workers during the period our ballot is running, so please, post your ballot back as soon as you can in order to make sure every vote is counted. Votes which arrive after the ballot closes will be rejected and will ultimately be counted as No votes.
Member activity will be key to the success of the EIS-ULA during the ballot period. You can help spread the word about the pay campaign and why we are balloting for strike action by using the links below to get informed and then inform others:-
Read all about the dispute and how we got here on our website
Read the details of UCEA’s pay offer
UCEA have continued to refuse to offer a decent pay award and that is because your employers are choosing to spend less on staff, whilst spending significantly in other areas.
The full and final pay offer is 3% for academic staff. RPI is now sitting at 12.3%.
Since 2009 the percentage of income spent on staff in Scottish Universities has declined from a sector average of 57% in 2009 to 55% in 2021 (Figures taken from HESA Statistics). That means Universities are making a conscious decision to spend less on their staff than they have previously done, while your costs spiral, and wages decline.
For far too long the priority of the university sector leadership has been anything but staff, and that has meant that your pay has lost value, with year after year of low pay awards. Universities may cite the unprecedented situation we’re in of high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis as being a factor this year, but the truth is this is just another example of universities (inc. HEIs) that have the money, choosing to spend it on things other than staff (unless you happen to be the principal).
We cannot continue to accept the squeeze on academic pay. We need to take action to ensure your employers are paying fair wages to you; you, who worked incredibly hard over the pandemic for your institutions and your students.
The EIS-ULA Executive is urging you to vote YES to Strike Action in the statutory ballot in order to protect your pay.
#TheDifferenceIsStriking
