2023-24 New JNCHES pay round
Information on the UK-wide higher education negotiations for 2023-24 which take place within the Joint National Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES).
Negotiations to resolve the Four Fights dispute are ongoing with HE employers' organisation UCEA.
UCEA have stated that they regard the 2022-23 pay round as having concluded but they are willing to bring forward the 2023-24 pay round and wish to negotiate a settlement by mid-February 2023. The elected negotiators have accepted this move to bring forward negotiations - however, it has been made clear to UCEA that the joint unions do not regard the 2022-23 pay round as having been concluded. We have confirmed that we remain in dispute with the employers and will prosecute that dispute as firmly as we can, and that we would expect any settlement of the 2023-24 pay round to include a settlement of the 22-23 pay round - effectively a two-year pay deal.
In addition, the employers have been informed that the joint unions remain committed to a resolution of pay-related issues included casualisation, workload, and equality pay gaps and that our dispute covers these issues. In order to reach agreement on pay, the joint unions have agreed that the negotiations for 2023-24 will be in two phases - aiming to settle on pay in mid-February and on pay-related issues later - stressing that the dispute will remain ongoing until all issues have been agree.
On 16 February 2023 the joint unions announced significant progress in the Acas negotiations. We are establishing time limited negotiations for new agreements on:
tackling casualisation
improving work life balance and reducing workloads
addressing equality pay gaps.
UCEA are currently consulting their members with a recommendation that they give them a mandate to end the use of involuntary zero hour contracts on campus. We have also made progress on pay with the removal of the lowest point from the pay scale, and a review of the pay spine that will benefit everyone.