A Scottish union is balloting its members for strike action after a ‘pitiful’ 1.4% pay rise.
The EIS University Lecturers Association (EIS ULA) opened the ballot on Monday after members rejected the pay offer from the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA), which represents a 3% real terms cut.
The UCU, Unite, and Unison unions are also expected to launch ballots, which are a legal requirement prior to taking industrial action.
Garry Ross, EIS National Officer for Higher Education, said that the UCEA pay offer was ‘pitiful’, adding that it failed “to reflect the expertise and dedication of staff who, without them, universities could not operate”.
“Employers have taken their staff for granted for too long, evidenced by years of eroded salaries whilst some institutions continue to make multi-million pound surpluses and hold significant reserves.
“All we are asking for is a fair, cost-of-living pay uplift to help staff pay their bills and mitigate rising inflation.”
Ross went on to say: “Our members continue to deliver high quality education and research opportunities to students from Scotland and around the world, working harder than ever under an increasing workload and constrained resources.
“Yet, they are expected to accept another real-terms pay cut. Staff throughout higher education have had enough.
“They feel undervalued and underappreciated by their university senior management, which has resulted in the EIS ULA moving forward with a statutory ballot for strike action.”
Scotland’s university sector has been rocked by financial turmoil in recent years, sparked by a downturn in international student admissions in 2023.
Hundreds of staff have taken voluntary severance at the University of Dundee, which faces a £35m deficit this academic year.
And staff at the University of Edinburgh went on strike for five days last month over a proposed £140m in budget cuts.
In May, UCEA said the pay offer was limited by the "sector's unprecdented pressures".
Professor George Boyne, Chair of UCEA, said that the pay offer would be "financially challenging" for many universities.
Boyne, who is the principal and vice chancellor at Aberdeen University, was criticised in July 2023 after WhatsApp messages obtained via FOI revealed he wanted staff engaging in industrial action to feel financial pain.
Responding to the ongoing marking and assessment boycott, Boyne had told a senior colleague: "I’d prefer pain along the way – we can return their money if they change their mind and do the marking.”
Read more:
- Union slams 'catastrophic' plans for over 700 job cuts at University of Dundee
- Staff at University of Edinburgh vote for strikes amid plans to cut £140m
- Academics at Robert Gordon University to strike over job cuts
Commenting on the most recent strike action, Raj Jethwa, Chief Executive of UCEA, said that the number of institutions in deficit 'continues to grow'
Jethwa added: “It is disappointing that the four trade unions have commenced ballots with some of their members over the 2025-26 New JNCHES pay uplift**.
"Employers genuinely wish they could afford a higher pay award for the 2025-26 pay uplift. But the HE sector faces unprecedented financial challenges resulting from, among other factors, falling international student recruitment, significant increases in employer TPS pension costs and the fact that the recent small tuition fees increase for English HE institutions is more than cancelled out by the National Insurance rise for employers.
“It is much better for employers and unions to work together to highlight the value of higher education to the UK economy, rather than pursuing industrial action to create disruption and suffering for students.”
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