Higher Education pay and working conditions

That this House notes that workers in Higher Education (HE) have suffered a 17 per cent pay cut since 2009, a 15.1 per cent gender pay gap and a 26 per cent black and minority ethnic pay gap; further notes that in some Higher Education Institutions, 40 percent of staff are employed on temporary or casual contracts; notes that, according to surveys, university staff work an average of 51 hours per week and that there is an ongoing epidemic of poor mental health in that sector; believes that staff working conditions affect student learning and that this is damaging to both students’ education and the quality and reputation of UK HE; recognises that staff pay and working conditions are a result of the marketisation of HE funding and provision; supports the 14 day industrial action called by the University and College’s Union (UCU) for fairer pay, gender and BAME equality, more realistic workloads, more equitable pension contributions and an end to casualisation; calls on the employers to take action to address the legitimate concerns of university staff and the ongoing crisis in HE; and further calls on the Government to work with the employers and UCU to resolve that dispute and end the marketisation of the sector.