The 2025-26 pay dispute and industrial action

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Why We’re Striking

Staff at Imperial College London have given everything in recent years — teaching record numbers of students, producing world-class research, and keeping this university running through a pandemic and beyond.

Yet while management praises our efforts, they have imposed a real-terms pay cut which now amounts to 9% since 2018, alongside increasing workloads and rising student:staff ratios.

We have tried talking. We have presented the facts. We have offered reasonable solutions.

Management’s response? Impose a below-inflation 2% pay rise and reject meaningful negotiations.

We cannot and will not accept this. We are taking strike action on the following dates:

7–8 October | 27–28 October | 13–14 November | 25–28 November

We do not want to strike. But we cannot be expected to work more while we see the value of our pay further eroded.

What We Asked For

The Joint Trade Union (JTU – UCU, UNISON & Unite) pay claim is simple:

  • Pay: 7.2% uplift on all salaries (which would have restored real-terms pay to 2018 levels) plus a £2,000 lump sum to offset income lost through years of sub-inflation increases.
  • Leave and wellbeing: 30 days annual leave (in line with other universities), 2 weeks paid carers’ leave, and a working group on moving to a 4-day working week.

These are modest, affordable, and fair claims we are willing to negotiate.

Our pay claim in full is here.

What Management Has Imposed

  • 2% pay rise — less than half the rate of inflation.
  • A small increase in paternity leave, taken from shared parental leave.
  • 1–2 extra College closure days per year, with no increase in flexible annual leave.

There were supposed to be negotiations with the unions on this, but management refused to even discuss their offer.

The full management pay award, imposed from 1/8/25 is here.

Why Imperial Can Afford a Fair Deal

Imperial is one of the wealthiest universities in the UK, not only in assets, but most importantly in terms of its operations.

  • More than £2 billion in net assets, gaining more than £250 million in the last accounting period.
  • £81 million cash flow from operations last year, up £25 million.
  • £55 million increase in teaching income in 2024 alone — more than enough to fund our entire claim
  • Staff costs falling as a share of income, even as workloads rise

Imperial’s finances are healthy. There is no excuse for cutting staff pay in real terms.

The JTU response to the pay award is well worth reading, and is here.

National vs. Local Pay Bargaining — What’s the Difference?

Most UK universities take part in national pay bargaining, where pay scales are negotiated centrally between unions and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA).

Imperial left this system in 2005, meaning our pay is set through local bargaining — direct negotiations between Imperial’s management and its trade unions.

This is why our dispute is local. But our fight is part of a wider national picture, with staff across the country rejecting below-inflation pay offers.

We Are Not Alone

  • Universities across the UK are in dispute over pay
  • NHS doctors, teachers, and transport workers are also fighting falling real-terms pay
  • Staff everywhere are saying: enough is enough

What You Can Do to Support Striking Staff

If you are a member of staff

  • Join the union if you haven’t already – you can join UCU here, and then:
  • Join the strike action!
  • Respect the picket lines — do not cross the picket lines
  • Do not cover for striking colleagues, nor let managers know about your intentions in advance
  • Attend rallies, speak up in meetings, and help spread the word

If you are a student

  • Talk to your lecturers — ask about the strike and why it matters
  • Write to College management demanding fair pay for staff
  • Share messages of support on social media and with the Student Union
  • Persuade your colleagues to vote for a motion of support

If you are a member of the public

  • Share our story online and in your networks
  • Write to your MP about funding and pay in Higher Education
  • Donate to strike funds to support those losing pay while fighting for fairness

Together We Win

We have been patient. We have been reasonable. Management has left us no choice.

We deserve pay that keeps up with the cost of living, workloads that are manageable, and conditions that respect staff and students alike.

We will keep fighting until Imperial comes back with a realistic, fair offer.