12 October 2022

Member

We're now half-way through our statutory ballot on the 2022/23 pay round and it's imperative that you use your vote as soon as possible!

Postal strikes have been announced that mean you need to post your ballot as early as possible to make sure it arrives in time to be counted under the laws governing statutory ballots. Please post your ballot before Monday 17th October to ensure your ballot counts. If you have misplaced your ballot, please contact ballot@eis.org.uk with your name, EIS number and home address urgently and we will arrange a replacement.

The constant decline in the value of academics' pay is disgraceful and deliberate. Your employers are intentionally supressing your pay, through years of sub-inflationary pay awards, and in some cases, pay imposition. This year the situation is made worse by the cost-of-living crisis which is putting massive pressure on members' personal finances.

All across the economy, workers are standing up and defending their rights to fair pay over excessive profits, or high executive pay. Rail workers, postal workers, nurses, teachers, and even criminal barristers are taking on their employers and saying no to more real terms pay cuts at a time when your mortgage, food, fuel, energy and other bills are rising by thousands of pounds a year. Academic staff must now stand up for their rights too.

The reality is that many employers pay as little as they can get away with. Principals' salaries rise because they have the means and desire for higher pay. For academics' pay to rise meaningfully, academics must take a stand. Your colleagues in other trade unions have begun this process - both UCU and Unison members have carried out strike action for pay. We, in the EIS too, need to add our voice and efforts to this campaign.

Train drivers are well paid because they have acted collectively and effectively to protect their pay. FE lecturers are the highest paid in the UK because they have carried out a series of strikes to protect their pay. Criminal barristers have just obtained a 15% pay rise despite being told the government could not afford such a settlement.

The reality is that HE academics cannot afford not to strike to defend their pay over the long term.

Your employer has the money. University reserves, the number of senior staff on over 100k and Principals' pay packets are all growing. If you want your pay to even keep up with rising costs, you must vote to take strike action. Talking alone will not break the pay deadlock. You must show your resolve and stand up for the rights of academic staff to fair pay.

Vote YES to strike action. Do it today!

If you have already voted, please encourage your colleagues to vote too. Not voting has the same outcome as voting not to take strike action because of the statutory ballot rules, so please ensure your ballot counts by taking an active part in the voting process.

You can download materials to use in the campaign here: Difference Is Striking.