Imperial college management have consistently justified imposing a below inflation pay award by citing benchmarks. Last week, prompted by JTU questions, senior management admitted they had massively exaggerated our standing in these benchmarks, having not noticed an error of over 30% in some categories (see figure below) when they made their offer.
What has been revealed is a steady decline in the relative pay of Imperial Staff, whereas in 2018 Imperial staff were paid on average 18% better than our London competitors, this is now below 4%. Despite being under similar pressures, other London institutions have been able to close the gap – unlike Imperial, they have prioritised protecting the value of staff pay!
The JTU have now done further digging, and have looked into the PTO job family pay scales. It looks like the benchmarking management have been using here is also highly questionable. This time, it’s not because of a calculation error, but rather that management have chosen an inconsistent comparison set, ignoring the London Russell group. In fact, it’s impossible to verify if their calculation is even plausible.
However, we can make such a comparison of the average PTO salaries between Imperial and the London Russell group: HESA produce a dataset that allows such a calculation for non-academics and this shows we have been paying less, on average, for recent years:
If management were serious about rewarding staff according to their ambitions for Imperial, they should request a direct grade-by-grade comparison from UCEA, as they have for academics (though this time they should carefully check UCEA’s working). Relying instead on an obscure, and indirect, benchmark means they are simply ignoring whether they can attract the best staff compared to the rest of the London Russell group.
The JTU have urgently requested a return to negotiations, particularly in the light of these shortcomings. Management have so far to refused to negotiate, claiming that the errors are “immaterial”. In response, we suggest basing a pay offer on wildly inaccurate or indirect benchmarks is neither in the best interests of staff nor the longer-term interests of College’s ambitions. Until management address the shortcomings of the basis of their offer, we are left with little choice but to go on strike.
Our first day of action saw record numbers at the picket lines. It’s therefore clear that staff at Imperial do not have such a cavalier attitude to data as our management. Indeed, Imperial would hardly have the world ranking it currently enjoys if we followed management’s lead.
Let’s make tomorrow even bigger!