New JNCHES Update – 2025/26 and 2026/27
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At a meeting of the New JNCHES in December 2025,joint trade unions pressed UCEA to improve their offer,based on members at some institutions achieving a mandate for strike action.
UCEA responded on the 11th December,stating that they would not improve their offer and advising that they were recommending employers implement the pay offer from 1st August 2025.
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As of February 2026,progress on the 2025/26 pay dispute has stalled,with the EIS ULA Executive Committee agreeing the dispute cannot be progressed further.
The joint TUs submitted the claim for 2026-27 on Tuesday 10th March. The first two meetings of the New JNCHES forum for 2026-27 took place on Tuesday 31st March and Thursday 9th April. An update from the first two meetings can be found on our website.
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EIS ULA Annual Conference & Dinner 2026
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The EIS ULA Annual Conference 2026 was held on Wednesday 25th March at the Radisson Blu Hotel on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.
The conference welcomed delegates from all branches along with four speakers covering topics aligning with the conference theme,"The Future of Higher Education in Scotland."
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The speakers presenting during the morning session were Andrew McGettigan giving a presentation on financial governance,Yvonne Evans speaking on charity law relating to universities and Terence Karran & Chavan Kissoon speaking on academic freedom.
In the afternoon,the business element of the conference began,with a number of motions moved on a range of topics.
The afternoon session also saw speeches from EIS ULA President,Holly Patrick-Thomson, EIS President,Adam Sutcliffe, with the speech by EIS General Secretary,Andrea Bradley,closing out the conference.
After the conference,a drinks reception and evening dinner were also organised for delegates and kindred guests to attend.
The documents and presentations from each of the speakers,a list of resolutions and photos from the conference are available on our website.
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The Branch submitted a 2025-26 pay claim of 5.1% in October last year,with the University tabling a full and final offer of 1.5%.
An indicative ballot was held at SRUC,with members overwhelmingly rejecting the offer. Members of both Prospect and UNISON have also rejected the offer. The Branch will now consider its next steps and whether to enter into dispute on the matter.
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The Branch has also lodged a further dispute on the failed implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding regarding pay and grading,where the outputs of this should have been concluded by August 2022 and then extended to April 2024.
Discussions on this dispute have taken place with management,who have committed to complete the grading exercise by the end of June. However,the Branch are seeking assurances that the pay element of the exercise will be expedited and taken back to members.
National Officer for HE,Garry Ross gave evidence to the Education,Children and Young People Committee on the 14th January 2026 in relation to SRUC,in which he highlighted the ongoing issues at the institution and the University’s delays in completing the pay and grading exercise.
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Edinburgh Napier University
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The Branch successfully achieved a mandate for strike action,with the closure of their statutory ballot on 9th January. 92.54% of members voted for strike action on a ballot turnout of 51.15%.
Using this mandate,the Branch committee,after careful deliberation,agreed to take ten days of strike action across four weeks in February and March,starting with two days action for the first two weeks and three days of action for the following two weeks.
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The Branch also held a rally at the Scottish Parliament at the beginning of March as a means of applying political pressure on University management to adequately resolve the dispute.
The Branch has engaged with the University in discussions on the redundancies,with scheduled strike dates in March and April being suspended in order to allow talks to continue.
However,further strike dates in late April/early May are being considered as we push to ensure no staff at ENU are made compulsory redundant.
Messages of support for the branch can be sent to Area Officer Denise McKenzie at: dmcKenzie@eis.org.uk.
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Glasgow Caledonian University
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The EIS ULA Branch at Glasgow Caledonian University lodged a dispute with the University on Tuesday 10th March 2026,in pursuit of a no compulsory redundancy guarantee for staff.
The dispute was lodged as a result of the University’s announcement on Monday 2nd March 2026,seeking 100 job cuts to address an expected financial deficit of £10M this year.
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During the announcement,the University made clear that "if we do not make the required savings through the scheme, we will have to move to compulsory redundancies".
However as of 31st July 2025, GCU recorded it has £88M in cash and cash equivalents in the bank. Through collective consultation with senior management,the university expect the cash reserves to rise to £94M before the end of this academic year.
Collective consultation meetings have been ongoing each week with recognised TUs but there has been a distinct lack of meaningful discussion and sharing of information. As a result, the Branch took the decision to hold a consultative ballot of members to gauge support for industrial action in pursuit of resolving the dispute.
The ballot closed on Wednesday 1st April and returned a large turnout and overwhelming result for industrial action. The Branch is now looking to move to a statutory ballot as soon as possible.
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EIS FELA and ULA Husting - Scottish Election 2026
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FELA and ULA hosted a husting on Monday 30th March,inviting Scottish election candidates from the SNP,Labour,Conservatives,Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Green Party.
Candidates were given a short time for opening remarks and answered a selection of questions relating to further and higher education before being offered an opportunity for closing remarks.
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The EIS supports and trains members to become local representatives within their workplace.
Training on offer also includes Health and Safety, Learning Reps and Equality Reps. The EIS works with university lecturers and academics to deliver TUC accredited Reps’ training.
Information on the EIS courses available to our members is on our website.
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The TUC also offers courses across the academic year to reps and members. A list of these courses can be found at .
Members who wish to register their interest in any of the available EIS or TUC courses should first contact their Branch Secretary in the first instance or contact Sophie Cooper (scooper@eis.org.uk).
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Branches without EIS ULA Office Bearers
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If you are at a university which does not currently have EIS ULA Office Bearers (Branch Secretary and Branch Convener),please seek to organise as a Branch and to elect these positions. By doing so,you and your colleagues will be better positioned to help and support each other at your university and contribute to the work of the EIS ULA nationally.
Please contact your EIS Organiser and ask them to visit your branch.
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