Created on: 11 Oct 2022 | Last modified: 23 Feb 2023
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Dear Member
The EIS ULA statutory ballot is underway and it is essential that every member uses their vote. A strong vote for industrial action in pursuit of an improved pay offer is the only way left for university staff to get the pay rise that they deserve.
As this is a disaggregated national ballot – your Branch must get a turnout of at least 50% in order for you to strike in order to defend your pay. So, if you have not voted yet, please do so without delay. Please note that there are postal strikes planned during our ballot period, so you need to post your vote as early as possible to make sure it arrives on time to be counted!
Once again, in 2022, Universities are pleading poverty. They say they can’t afford a better pay rise. They claim that below inflation pay offers are necessary as the financial health of the sector cannot sustain more.
The EIS has gone through the financial statements of all the Scottish Universities and HEIs, and your employers’ claims of financial hardship are simply not supported by evidence.
Scottish Universities (inc. all HEIs) have combined reserves of £5.50 billion according to their 2020/21 published accounts. That is a record figure. In 2019/20 their reserves were £4.75 billion. That means that their reserves increased by £750m in one year alone, no doubt helped by the pay freeze they imposed on you! In other words, part of their increased reserves is built on using funds that could and should have been used to give a pay uplift in 2020-21.
The fact is that the Universities are making a choice, and their accounts prove it. Their choice is to cut your pay year after year in real terms; their choice is to reduce the value of staff in their budgets and in turn show how little they value the important work that you do.
A summary of the ‘total reserves’ for Scottish HEIs is listed below:
|
Total Reserves 2019-20 (£) |
Total Reserves 2020-21 (£) |
|
|
Edinburgh Napier University |
21,173,000 |
44,851,000 |
|
Glasgow Caledonian University |
110,252,000 |
117,753,000 |
|
Glasgow School of Art |
33,739,000 |
34,102,000 |
|
Heriott-Watt University |
43,122,000 |
62,589,000 |
|
Queen Margaret University |
62,953,000 |
73,700,000 |
|
Robert Gordon University |
135,932,000 |
171,933,000 |
|
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland |
19,810,000 |
20,491,000 |
|
SRUC |
10,634,000 |
35,005,000 |
|
University of Aberdeen |
347,241,000 |
389,343,000 |
|
University of Abertay |
19,926,000 |
35,005,000 |
|
University of Dundee |
144,392,000 |
202,337,000 |
|
University of Edinburgh |
1,268,000,000 |
2,406,200,000 |
|
University of Glasgow |
864,581,000 |
1,007,997,000 |
|
University of Highlands and Islands |
-11,799,000 |
-11,206,000 |
|
University of St Andrews |
308,916,000 |
376,463,000 |
|
University of Stirling |
135,931,000 |
159,070,000 |
|
University of Strathclyde |
319,000,000 |
342,600,000 |
|
University of the West of Scotland |
24,610,000 |
60,857,000 |
|
Total |
4,758,413,000 |
5,501,161,000 |
Amidst the cost-of-living crisis, it’s more important than ever to take action to protect the value of your pay packet and you can start this fightback by voting yes to industrial action today.
We must act to stop the employers from getting away with using the staff to feed the substantial and growing pot of reserves that the sector has. It’s time to act and force a rethink and a resetting of the priorities: we must put due pressure on employers as they sit like dragons on their mounting piles of gold, to spend some of it on paying staff fairly.
The EIS-ULA Executive recommends you vote YES to Strike action in this Statutory Ballot.