Vote Yes | Higher education strike ballot

VOTE YES TO STRIKE
STRIKE BALLOTS NOW OPEN

Unite’s national industrial action ballot on pay is now open and closes on 1 December (noon). This is a postal ballot. Ballot papers will start landing on doormats shortly after; the last safe day for posting is Tuesday 25 November.

1.4% IS A MASSIVE NATIONAL PAY CUT 

The 1.4% full and final pay offer for 2025/26 from UCEA, the employer’s body, is significantly below inflation and was imposed by universities on 1 August. 

With RPI inflation running at 4.6% (Aug 2025), it is yet another massive real terms pay cut. Over a decade and a half of below inflation pay rises has led to HE wages falling by around 30% in real terms since 2010 amid a cost of living crisis. Your living standards are being hit by both wage erosion and high prices. Basically, everything but your wages are going up. Food is up by around 37% since July 2020 and water rates jumped by 26.1% in a year.  It’s time to say enough.

Read the strike FAQs for more information and answers to the most frequently asked questions about voting for strike action and taking action, please click here.

OUR DEMANDS – FAIR, REASONABLE AND AFFORDABLE

 The offer falls well below the higher education joint unions pay claim of RPI+3.5% or £2,500, whichever is greater and is quite simply not good enough. 

Strike action is always a last resort. We worked hard with our sister unions over many months to negotiate a better deal for our members, fighting for your jobs, pay and conditions. Unfortunately, the employers’ final offer fails to value you and makes you bear the cost for the broken funding model in HE.  Your National Industrial Sector Committee (NISC) of elected representatives decided  that there was no other option but to launch strike ballots and campaign for a strong YES VOTE.

STAND TOGETHER. VOTE YES TOGETHER
Please download and share joint union materials below.

Unite, UCU, Unison and EIS, the unions in JNCHES are balloting their members at the same time. Colleagues from different unions campaigning and ultimately striking together will increase our bargaining power and make it much harder for the employers to ignore our collective demands.

New in: Unite, UCU and Unison members standing together at Leicester University fighting to protect their jobs, pay and conditions. Watch the video here.

RESOURCES

Unite, UCU, Unison and EIS standing together, joint union materials. Download and share. To order a supply please contact Chantal: chantal.chegrinec@unitetheunion.org

Print and digital strike assets including leaflets, posters, FAQs and social sharing graphics are available to help you get the vote out in your institutions. Please scroll down to view and download. Talk to your Unite reps, branch leads and regional officers to order a supply for your workplace. Or contact Chantal in campaigns: chantal.chegrinec@unitetheunion.org

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. Help Get the Vote out in your workplaces - download and put up a poster, hand out leaflets, answer questions with the strike FAQs.
2. Talk to your colleagues- tell them why their vote matters and why we need to stand together to show our bosses and political leaders that 'we won't pay for the funding crisis in HE. 
3. Share and get the message out on Whatsapp and your social channels. Add the I'm Voting Yes sticker to your profile and use the social graphics. Remember to be respectful and respect your institutions' social media guidelines. 

WHAT WE WILL DO

We will keep pushing UCEA to re-enter negotiations and improve the 2025/26 pay offer. In the meantime, the higher education unions, including the GMB will campaign together for immediate action to fix the broken funding model for higher education so that university staff are not punished for the funding crisis.

GET THE MESSAGE OUT

Right click on the social graphics to download. Please share on your social channels with a #VoteYes for Fair Pay in Higher Education. #VoteYes to strike.