University and College Union (UCU) members are leaving their annual congress with key questions about how to respond to low pay offers and job cuts seemingly still unresolved.
After receiving from employers a final pay offer of 2 per cent, some members were pushing the union to hold another national ballot on industrial action, despite the last two having failed to reach the threshold.
Others advocated for disaggregated ballots to be held, handing more power to stronger branches to take action but potentially risking a more fractured response.
Meanwhile, representatives from Goldsmiths, University of London – one of the institutions worst affected by the current financial crisis – were attempting to reignite plans to take the fight to the secretary of state.
Roger Seifert, emeritus professor of industrial relations at the University of Wolverhampton, said the UCU was in a “difficult” position over how to respond to the pay offer after its unsuccessful national ballot last year, which received a turnout of only 39 per cent – far below the minimum 50 per cent required by law.
