Thanks Guv’nor Very Charitable.
Members of the Imperial College Unite branch negotiate locally on pay. Over the past year, the branch has engaged in sustained industrial action (as previously reported in newsletters). Recently, the pay offer presented to branch members, as well as to UCU and Unison members at the college, was rejected by an overwhelming 80% margin. As a result, all three unions have scheduled further strike action on October 2nd, 3rd, and 18th, 2023. The joint unions have requested urgent negotiations, under the guidance of ACAS, to resolve the ongoing dispute.
One-off Payment (sound familiar)…
One of the main reasons for the rejection of the revised offer from the college is that it includes an unconsolidated one-off payment (perhaps spread over more months for those receiving in-work benefits or other benefits). Any payment at all seems to be predicated on potential savings made from reduced employer contributions to the formerly troubled USS pension scheme. This kind of uplift would be temporary, and the actual pay levels would be unaffected, meaning pay negotiations would revert to the pay levels already imposed by management, equating to more than an 8% real-terms pay cut since 2022.
Just to reiterate.
This kind of uplift would be temporary, and the actual pay levels would be unaffected, meaning pay negotiations would revert to the pay levels already imposed by management, equating to more than an 8% real-terms pay cut since 2022.