Higher education conference debates ongoing pay dispute

UNISON’s higher education activists met in Newcastle yesterday, for their first in-person conference since the onset of the pandemic. With workers experiencing “the worst cost of living crisis in 30 years”, pay was at the heart of their debates.
Since 2009, pay for higher education (HE) staff has lost around 28% of its value, as a result of below inflation rises year on year. Soaring inflation in 2022 brought this situation to crisis point, leaving members in HE facing real har