Library assistants, administrators and IT workers will be among the support staff at SOAS University and Kings College London on strike tomorrow (Tuesday) after rejecting a below-inflation pay offer of just 1.4%, says UNISON.
Workers say the offer is insulting, on the back of years of wage deals that have fallen behind rising bills, and during a cost-of-living crisis.
Staff salaries have dropped by 20% in real terms over the past decade and no pay uplift has matched inflation since the financial crash in 2008, says UNISON.
The employees will be walking out tomorrow and Wednesday (10 and 11 March) after bosses proposed the lowest annual pay uplift for university staff since 2020.
In the recent industrial action ballots of staff, there was overwhelming support for strikes*.
UNISON head of education Mike Short said: “University workers have suffered years of below-inflation pay offers and seen their pay collapse by 20% in the past decade.
“Staff think it’s nothing short of an insult for bosses to come to the table with just 1.4%.”
Notes to editors:
– Striking staff will be on a picket lines at:
SOAS University – 10 Thorndaugh Street from 8am each day
Kings College London – Guys Campus, Denmark Hill, and Strand Campus from 9am
– The national university employers’ body UCEA made the 1.4% pay offer in May to cover the 2025/26 academic year. It’s the lowest pay offer from UCEA since 2020.
– At SOAS there was an 86% vote in favour of action, and at KCL 90%.
Media contact:
Emma Davey M: 07432 733187 E: e.davey@unison.co.uk