With the University of Birmingham management having already imposed the unprecedented 2022/23 pay cut on our members, BUCU are calling on all eligible staff to get our ballots in the post in the first 3 days of the ballot window.

Please complete the following form to let us know that you’ve voted! You can also use this form to request a replacement ballot: http://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/ucurising-ballotupdate

This is part of the national #UCUrising ballot on pay and conditions set to run from the 7 September to the 26 October.

The latest pay ‘award’ set by UCEA and already imposed by the University of Birmingham will leave our members with the biggest real terms pay cut we have faced in decades. With inflation currently at 12.3%, energy bills set to rise by 80% in October, and by potentially even more in January, it is time to say enough is enough.

Indeed, that figure for RPI inflation is before the upcoming record rises in bills and comes on the back of years of real terms pay cuts. Nationally, instutions saw income grow to £42.4bn in the financial year 2020/21 and near record surpluses of £3.4bn. At the University of Birmingham, the situation is similar, our University saw total revenues increase by £37.1m (up 5% on last year) and we once again generated a £58.5m surplus (£60.0m last year).

And yet the university of Birmingham are currently doing nothing to push back on the 3% pay offer from UCEA, which, once inflation is taken account of, amounts to more than a 9% pay cut going into the Autumn.

By looking at the University’s own pay spines we can see just how much our pay has fallen in recent years:

Full table available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r5vksOCudWc_5x_5xG20xi7-nQ0fk1dg/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109836097061454574312&rtpof=true&sd=true

Our members are still furious about the theft of our pensions, that averaged out as 35% cuts to our future benefits. This was done based on lies from Universities UK about the financial situation of pre-92 institutions and a false valuation of the scheme. The latest estimates show that even without these cuts the USS would have remained in surplus.

Whether it be our deferred wages in the form of our pensions, orour actual wages and salaries, Universities are profiteering from the financial hardship and excessive overwork of our members.

Enough is enough – show university management you’re not going to take it any more by voting in the upcoming September ballot and let our Get the Vote Out (GTVO) team know you’ve voted!