University lecturers balloted for strike action over ‘pitiful’ pay offer

University lecturers are being balloted for strike action in a dispute over a “pitiful” pay offer.

The Educational Institute of Scotland University Lecturers’ Association (EIS ULA) claimed the 1.4% offer from the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) represents a real-term wage cut of 3% to staff.

The EIS said staff feel “undervalued and underappreciated”, and have had enough.

The union opened the strike ballot on Monday after its recent consultative ballot saw members “overwhelmingly” reject the full and final pay offer from UCEA and vote in favour of taking strike action to pursue a better offer.

The EIS said the UCU, Unison and Unite unions are also opening statutory ballots on the joint national pay dispute with UCEA.

Garry Ross, EIS national officer for higher education, said 1.4% is a “pitiful pay offer” which “fails to reflect the expertise and dedication of staff” without whom universities could not operate.

He said: “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.”

He added: “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.”

The ballot will run for almost six weeks and will close on Friday November 28.

Raj Jethwa, UCEA chief executive, said: “It is disappointing that the four trade unions have commenced ballots with some of their members over the 2025-26 new joint negotiating committee for higher education staff 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.

“The number of institutions in deficit only continues to grow.

“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.”