Transcript:

 

Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice Chancellor, Queen’s University Belfast:

At Queen’s University, we know that our people are our key asset.

Through our joint efforts, we have delivered a really remarkable body of work in recent years, across all we do:

• Teaching and learning;
• Research and innovation;
• Hosting major events;
• And, indeed, civic engagement that brings so much positive change to our communities and our society.

Teamwork and a positive attitude are at the very heart of our many achievements.

Both these ingredients – along with a strong desire to recognise the huge contribution of all our people across the University – have been absolutely central to reaching an agreement with our Trade Unions – NIPSA, UCU and Unite – on a three-year pay deal.

We want to provide certainty for our staff and provide our students with assurance that potential disruption to their studies has been hugely reduced as a result of this agreement.

Julia Farkaš, NIPSA Branch Chair:

Collectively, the University and the unions see this as a new start to industrial relations at Queen’s, with partnership and collaboration at the heart of the new agreement. Queen’s NIPSA Members were pleased to accept the pay deal at a recent Exceptional General Meeting.

Sean O’Connell, President of UCU at Queen’s University Belfast:

On behalf of UCU members at Queen’s, I am delighted that we have reached agreement with management on a fair settlement on pay. This is an important step towards pay restoration and fitting reward and recognition of the efforts of all Queen’s staff.

Negotiations were tough, but their successful completion demonstrates the critical role trade unions play today in advocating for staff and we would encourage all staff at Queens to join a union today to support our ongoing campaigns.

Julia Farkaš, NIPSA Branch Chair:

The agreement, which has now been ratified by the Remuneration Committee, will have a duration of three years commencing on 1st of August 2024.

The Unions believe that this deal will provide clarity for our students, and our colleagues, for the next three academic years.

Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice Chancellor, Queen’s University Belfast:

Investing in our people underlines our commitment to moving forward, breaking new ground, delivering on innovation and making this a great place to work and to study for generations to come.

It will help us deliver our vision for Strategy 2030.

This agreement is all the more notable as we are living in challenging times for the Higher Education sector with very serious funding pressures across the UK.

Indeed, in Northern Ireland, funding for universities and colleges has reduced by over 40% since 2011.

Funding challenges continue – this year static funding means a further real-terms cut of around £10m for Queen’s and a budget deficit for the University.

Despite those challenges, I believe we need to invest in our people now to reap the benefits in years to come.

While the financial outlook isn’t positive at present, I believe that collective effort, working together with our people and the Trade Unions, can return the University to robust financial health quickly.

We have proved by our actions over many years that we value our people – not just though our competitive salaries, but through our excellent terms and conditions, our responsiveness to our staff and students and our determination to create a positive work environment.

We are committed to recruiting and retaining the best people to help us in our shared purpose: generating internationally leading research coupled with outstanding teaching and learning, focused on the needs of our society, locally and globally.

Julia Farkaš, NIPSA Branch Chair:

Key terms of the offer include:

A base salary increase over three years for all employees, effective from 1 August 2024. 5.5% will be awarded in year 1; an additional 4% will be awarded in year 2 and 3.5% in year 3.

The cumulative effect of a 5.5%, 4% and a further 3.5% increase across the three years is 13.56%.

Sean O’Connell, President of UCU at Queen’s University Belfast:

In addition to the base salary increase of 13%, over 65% of the workforce at Queen’s will be also eligible for contractual pay spine increments, the uplift of which varies across the pay points, but it’s an average of 2.6% per year across the three years, so the majority of staff will also benefit from these increments, as well as the base deal on pay.

Julia Farkaš, NIPSA Branch Chair:

Additionally, in year one of the deal, the University will provide a one-off, non-consolidated award of £1,000 to staff in Grades 1-6 and of £750 to staff in Grades 7-9/AC2-5. This will be paid pro rata for part-time employees and will be paid in the July 2024 salary. The amounts are subject to tax and national insurance in the usual way.

In terms of the benefits package, the three-year offer also includes one additional day’s annual leave per annum, which will come into effect immediately.

Sean O’Connell, President of UCU at Queen’s University Belfast:

Significantly, this deal means that we can now all focus on providing stability for both staff and students. Management should be congratulated on the vision they have demonstrated by making this pay agreement possible.

With this agreement on pay now ratified, we look forward to working to find equally positive resolutions to the other issues that have been the trade unions’ focus in recent years – issues such as workloads, the gender pay gap and improving conditions and security for those working on fixed term contracts.

Beth Elder, Queen’s University Belfast Students’ Union President:

Queen’s Students’ Union welcomes the announcement of the pay deal and commends the University management and the three unions for their collaborative approach and success in reaching this agreement.

Like our peers at universities across the UK higher education sector, many of our current students experienced disruption during their educational journey as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the industrial action in recent years.

The pay deal means that Queen’s students now find themselves in the fortunate position of having certainty that their studies are highly unlikely to be affected during the period of the deal.

This is really important, reducing unnecessary stress and ensuring the stability needed for students to thrive and get the most out of their time at university.

Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice Chancellor, Queen’s University Belfast:

We are living in difficult times, with wars across the world, climate change impact, and a cost of living crisis.

Queen’s University will continue to be at the forefront of working to find solutions to the many challenges that we face.

We believe that this deal, and the unified approach we took across the University, is a major step towards providing greater certainty for our students, our staff and the wider community we serve.