Professor Keith Jones, Interim Provost and Chair of the Joint Negotiating Committee

Today (18 November) Keith Jones, Interim Provost and Chair of the Joint Negotiating Committee, emailed all staff. You can read the full message below. 

University and College Union (UCU) has announced three days of strike action on 24, 25 and 30 November. Sussex is one of 150 universities where members have voted in favour of industrial action over pay and working conditions, and one of 67 where members are striking in relation to the University Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme.

In addition to the three days of strike action, UCU is asking its members to take a longer period of action short of a strike (known as ASOS) from 23 November onwards until the end of April.

We understand that no-one decides to take industrial action lightly and we respect people’s right to strike to improve pay, working conditions, and pensions.

This latest strike action in relation to USS is part of a national, long-running and complex dispute, and agreement about both USS and pay can only be reached at a national level.

We remain committed to becoming an employer of choice and to improving our employment practices for all staff, and we are keen to continue to work on this with our three recognised trade unions, Unite, Unison and UCU. Last month we reached agreement with UCU, following 16 weeks of negotiations, on a number of key issues relating to pay and working conditions.

We hope that we can build on this recent positive collaboration with UCU, enabling us to realise our shared ambitions to improve working life at Sussex and be a more diverse and inclusive community.

We recognise that pay is at the forefront of everyone’s minds in these financially challenging times, and in response to the cost of living crisis, the University has provided a support package for staff and students amounting to £6.6m.

Background to the industrial action
The changes implemented in April this year to the USS pension scheme meant that higher contributions for employers and scheme members were avoided. If the next USS valuation allows for improvements to the scheme to be made in a sustainable and affordable way, we would be very supportive of this.

We have established a joint University-UCU USS Working Group to support our decision making, and the University and UCU recently sent a joint letter to Universities UK (UUK) on a range of agreed points in relation to USS.

Pay is negotiated at a national level, and we were happy to support the pay uplift for staff that was implemented in August. Improving the work environment for all staff is something we care about deeply. We will do everything we can for our staff and we are committed to continuing to be part of the national pay bargaining framework and to seeking to influence the outcomes of this process.

What options are available?
We hope that national agreements can be reached that are acceptable to our staff, but we also recognise that financial circumstances for universities are very challenging. UUK and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) have both expressed their commitment to continued dialogue with UCU and, in particular, have asked UCU to come forward with viable and implementable proposals. On USS, proposals would also have to satisfy The Pensions Regulator.

USS, in both its current and proposed future form, remains one of the best pension schemes in the country and we are committed to sustaining it for current and new staff. Increasing costs are leading to many colleagues opting out and addressing this has to be a serious consideration. Now is the time to come together to find a lasting resolution that ensures a good pension remains within the reach of all eligible staff.

What next?
We recognise that industrial action impacts our students’ educational experience at Sussex, and we are committed to seeking to minimise the disruption and the impact on their learning outcomes. We will do everything we can to ensure our students can continue to learn and receive support.

We are providing a wide range of information to students about what they can expect during the industrial action, and we are making them aware of the information available on the Student Hub. It would be very helpful if you are asked for information from a student to direct them to the Student Hub, as we aim to contain advice in this one place as much as possible.

Alongside our commitment to our students, the welfare of our staff is also very important, and we must provide the space for different views and decisions, while maintaining a culture of dignity and respect.

Between now and when the strikes take place, we will be updating information and guidance for you on our Industrial Action webpages, which will have a background, FAQs and a full glossary of terms.

Keith Jones
Interim Provost and Chair of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC)