After months of slow and frustrating pay talks, UNISON members have firmly rejected the University’s final pay offer for 2024/25 following a consultation in March. At a meeting this month, members overwhelmingly backed plans to move to a formal strike ballot. 

What happens next

• A formal strike ballot will open on Tuesday 3 June and run until Tuesday 8 July.
• The ballot includes all grade 2 to 5 professional services members at the University of Birmingham. 
• These staff were previously known as “support staff” and work in roles such as administration, cleaning, catering and security- all workers who are vital to keeping the University running every day.

We’ve developed some frequently asked questions about the ballot to address any questions that members and non-members might have.

Why we are balloting for strike action

Our dispute goes beyond just a single bad pay offer, it’s about the bigger picture: how the University treats its staff, who keep buildings safe and clean, and support its academics and students.

We want the University to genuinely engage with us to work on deep-seated problems that are harming both staff and the services we provide.

Members have called for concrete action to address:

• Pay that hasn’t kept up with inflation, meaning wages have fallen further behind every year.
• Unfair sickness absence policies which harass people for being genuinely unwell.
• Workloads skyrocketing as the number of students goes up and the number of staff goes down.

So far the University have offered little more than vague promises of talks without any guarantees that they will lead to the change our members need.

Broken promises and broken trust.

We didn’t want to be taking this step again so soon. Less than  a year ago, we settled our last dispute with the University, trusting that they would provide what was promised. 

Implementing the improvements promised last year has been painfully slow. A big part of the reason we are in this position again is the sluggish efforts of the University, especially on the 35 hour week, which was agreed as part of the settlement last year but won’t come into effect until June, almost a year later. The University has offered no compensation for the delay. 

That broken trust makes our  members understandably very skeptical of any promises made by the University. They need concrete commitments and deadlines. 

The crisis of funding and pay across Higher Education

While University of Birmingham support staff negotiate pay locally, national negotiations in the University sector have left staff across the country reeling. The national offer of 1.4%, the lowest in the public sector, falls significantly behind inflation.

As University management so often take their lead from national negotiations, it has left our members deeply concerned about how likely it is for UoB to provide a reasonable offer in the new talks this year.

 

A fight to protect staff and the services our students rely on.

Hundreds of roles have been lost through voluntary leavers’ schemes. Those left behind are stretched to breaking point. There simply aren’t enough staff to keep students and academics properly supported.

Support staff are the backbone of this University, whose work so often goes unseen. 

Who we are:

• We are the administrators who keep lectures running and student records accurate.
• We are the security staff who keep everyone on campus safe, who respond when anyone is injured or unwell.
• We are the cleaners who deal with dust, mess and dirt, maintaining the hygiene we need to stay safe and well. 
• We are the maintenance staff who deal with faulty electrics, burst pipes and broken fixtures, keeping buildings functioning safely.
• We are the library staff who answer your questions and make books and resources accessible,, so that students and researchers have what they need to work.
• We are the technicians who help students and researchers run experiments safely and efficiently. 

There are many more roles, almost too many to count, responsible for keeping things running at such a large and complex institution. They are all valuable and deserve recognition for their work.

On top of this, staff are increasingly struggling to cope. After watching the value of their wages plummet every year,  many are worried about having enough to pay their bills at the end of the month.

This ballot isn’t just about fighting for a fair deal for staff. It’s about saving the essential services we provide as support staff, that academics and students rely on every single day. The University must act now, to stop these services from crumbling. 

What you can do to help

Winning this ballot will give us leverage to change things for the better – it’s in all of our interests for us to get a big yes vote and to make sure that at least 50% of members vote. To help us do this:

• If you are a member, look out for your ballot paper next week and post it back straight away.
• Speak to other members of support staff, put up our posters, and share this blog post with colleagues.
• You can join now to have your say in this important vote.
• Follow us on social media and help by sharing our posts: Instagram / Facebook

The bigger and louder we make this ballot, the more chance we have of changing things for the better here at the University.