Universities to ballot on strike action over wages
THOUSANDS OF staff at Wales’ universities are being balloted for strike action in a row over wages and conditions, saying pay has fallen by 21% in real terms since 2009.
Lecturers and other staff at Swansea, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Wrexham Glyndwr, South Wales, Cardiff, Cardiff Metropolitan and Trinity Saint David universities are joining members of the University and College Union (UCU) at 143 UK universities in the ballot which opens on Tuesday.
Staff at the University of Wales Registry (part of Trinity St David) are also taking part and results will be known next month.
The action follows a UCU strike on changes to pensions last year which saw a climbdown by employers after work was disrupted at universities across Wales and elsewhere in the biggest action ever to hit UK higher education.
UCU members at Cardiff University will take part in two ballots, the national ballot on pay and conditions and another over local job cuts
The union said the pay and conditions dispute rests on universities’ failure to improve on the 2% pay offer made at pay talks last May.
The offer from the Universities & Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) did nothing to address the falling value of higher education pay, which has declined in real terms by 21% since 2009, it said.
UCU head of policy Matt Waddup said: “Staff have concerns about spi- ralling workloads, pay inequality and the continued casualisation of the workforce. Yet universities have failed to engage with us in these negotiations, which has undermined the credibility of national bargaining and left us in a situation where we have no alternative but to ballot our members.
“Staff want these important issues to be taken seriously, and that includes the 21% loss in the value of their pay since 2009, which the recently imposed 2% pay offer does nothing to address.”
About 70,000 staff across the UK will be balloted.
Andy Williams, Cardiff UCU media spokesman, said: “Nobody wants to go out on strike, but we’ve tried to engage the employers on these issues for years.
“We successfully defended our pensions by combining industrial action with clear, evidence-based analysis to counter university spin. We’re ready to do the same again.”
Some universities say they have been struggling with less funding and a fall in research fees and applications.
Universities Wales, which represents institutions in Wales, was asked to comment.
SWANSEA University has confirmed that its registrar and chief operating officer Andrew Rhodes couldn’t have been considered a candidate to become its next vice chancellor, for which a shortlist has now been finalised.
It comes after suspended vicechancellor Richard B Davies, in a leaked grievance letter to the university’s council, claimed Mr Rhodes was seeking to “seize the position of vice-chancellor”.
The university said that under its ordinances, its registrar, a role Mr Rhodes took up last spring, is required to investigate any claims of impropriety, misconduct or negligence made against university employees.
Since the suspension of Mr Davies, Mr Rhodes, as also required under the ordinances – which set out the rules and conduct of the business of the university – has taken on some vice chancellor functions in an interim capacity.
Last September, Mr Davies announced his retirement as vicechancellor with effect from this summer.
He was suspended by the university for alleged gross negligence last November. Mr Davies has denied any wrongdoing.
Three members of staff in the university’s business school, including its dean Professor Marc Clement, were also suspended at the same time as Mr Davies for alleged gross misconduct.
Prof Clement also vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
In the leaked 10-page grievance letter, Mr Davies said: “It cannot be mere coincidence that days after I had a formal meeting with Andrew Rhodes to discuss concerns with his performance, I find myself suspended.
“I believe that this is evidence that this entire situation was constructed by Andrew Rhodes to a) avoid performance action against him and b) to seize the position of vice chancellor.
However, in a statement the university said: “The process for recruiting a new vice chancellor has been under way since Prof Davies announced his retirement in September 2018 and shortlisting has taken place this week.
“As required by the university ordinances, the process is being managed by the registrar and chief operating officer, Andrew Rhodes, who is the most senior university official after the vice chancellor.
“The registrar is also responsible for investigating any claims of impropriety, misconduct or negligence made against university employees.
“Following the suspension of Professor Davies, Mr Rhodes is carrying out some of the functions of the vice chancellor, as required by the university’s ordinances.”
Mr Rhodes is a former senior civil servant who was recruited to the university because of his background in service delivery, scrutiny and regulation.
“As a non-academic, Mr Rhodes would not be eligible for the vicechancellor post, nor would he be able to lead the recruitment process if he was a candidate.”
Mr Rhodes, 42, was previously director-general for operations, a role in which he was responsible for 72,000 civil servants. Taking up the position aged just 38, it made him one of the youngest ever directorgenerals in the history of the UK civil service.
It is understood that the university suspensions are related to the proposed £200m Wellbeing Village in Llanelli, in which the university was a partner alongside Carmarthenshire council.
The drivers of the project, which is seeking £40m in backing from the city deal for the Swansea Bay ”City Region, were Prof Clement and chief executive of Carmarthenshire council Mark James, who yesterday confirmed he is retiring from the role this summer.
The decision-making behind the council’s support for the project, which no longer involves Sterling Health Security Holdings as its development partner, is to be investigated by the Auditor General for Wales, Adrian Crompton.
The entire city deal is also the subject of a review by the UK and Welsh governments, subject to the sign-off of the business cases of individual city deal projects. Both governments have committed to providing financial backing.
Carmarthenshire council is now looking to develop a new funding model for the proposed Wellbeing Village.