Created on: 12 Aug 2025
As highlighted in my previous email to you a few weeks ago, the difference between the pay rises HE staff have received over the last six years and RPI inflation during that period of time is stark; illustrating the size of the real terms pay cut that lecturing staff have endured.. Staff have seen over a 20% reduction in real terms to their salary over that period, dramatically affecting their standard of living. This is clear to see from the chart below.
Comparison of actual salary increases vs index linked increases for New JNCHES Pay Scale Point 44 (RPI figures taken from Office of National Statistics; RPI All Items: Percentage change over 12 months)
What are inflation projections?
RPI was forecasted (by the OBR) in March 2025 to rise in the short term to over 4% in Autumn 2025, but it has already hit 4.4% in June 2025. Other forecasts suggest that RPI may peak around 4.9% in the Autumn. This means food, fuel and household bills will continue to rise, all of which will have a detrimental impact on staff and further erode the standard of living of our members, who have seen this happen repeatedly over the last decade. Ultimately, your salary is buying less and less every year relative to inflation.
If the imposition of the 1.4% pay offer is unchallenged, staff are set to see their salaries reduce in value once again, moving further away from any form of pay restoration, which was a key aspect of the TU pay claim this year.
Only by rejecting the pay offer and voting to take industrial action can members demonstrate their collective strength against sub-inflationary pay increases and the detrimental effect this has on your standard of living, but also to fight against sector-wide job security issues.