Trade unions are groups of employees who provide help and services to their members and lead collective bargaining for better pay and conditions for staff. In the UK, trade unions have a special status in law which gives them special rights to do this. At BU, we have two recognised trade unions for our staff: UCU and Unison.
The pay for university staff is negotiated and agreed nationally between trade unions and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). UCEA is a member organisation of UK higher education institutions and enables collective bargaining to support equity across all universities.
UCU did not agree to the pay award for the 2022/23 academic year. Their dispute also includes concerns about equality, the use of different types of casual contracts and workloads. As pay is agreed nationally, the resolution also needs to be agreed across the university sector. BU has a voice at the negotiations through our membership of UCEA and are seeking resolution through this national level.
We are, however, undertaking a lot of activity in some of the other areas of concern to UCU. We are working with both of our recognised trade unions to address some of these concerns to benefit colleagues and the wider organisation around:
Workload planning
Working conditions for staff
Gender pay.