Welcome End to Dispute Crisis has Been Averted but the Future Is Uncertain
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Summary
THERE were almost audible sighs of relief last night across Britain's universities as lecturers' leaders called off their industrial action and agreed to ballot members on a three-year pay settlement. Eight months ago, nobody thought this dispute would get serious but it has been both long and bitter, and in recent days looked as if it might drag on into the autumn. This could have been disastrous, not only for a generation of students embarking on graduate life in an atmosphere of uncertainty, but also because of the potential impact on deterring foreign students from coming to these shores.
This settlement is welcome, first and foremost for the students who have been unfairly caught between the increasingly entrenched positions of administrators and academic staff. Taking final examinations is nerveracking enough without the additional stress of not knowing whether work will be assessed and exam papers set ormarked. It is now incumbent on all concerned to work flat out to deliver results on time. Secondly, the settlement is an important recognition of how highly we value the work of university lecturers. At one point they could command salaries comparable with those of doctors but have fallen badly behind in recent years. One estimate suggests academic pay has declined by 40per cent in 20 years, at a time when the salaries of school teachers in Scotland have improved dramatically, thanks to the McCrone deal on pay and conditions. Yesterday's agreement between the newly-formed University and College Union and the employers' group, the UCEA, which delivers lecturers 13.1per cent over three years, plus an independent pay review, is long overdue.See the full content of this document
Extract
Welcome End to Dispute Crisis has Been Averted but the Future Is Uncertain
However, this settlement comes at a cost to Scottish universities. Much ...
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