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Uni staff walk Praise for disability charity out today over pay disputes STAFF at the city’s two universities - Oxford and Oxford Brookes - are set to strike today, as a result of an ongoing dispute over pay. Workers in higher education across the country represented by The University and College Union (UCU), Unison and Unite will walk out today, as a response to a below-inflation pay rise. They have been offered a pay increase of one per cent, at a time when pay and benefits for university leaders rose by more than £5,000 in 2011-12. Oxford’s UCU president, Terry Hoad, said that action was necessary as there has been a reduction in wages compared to inflation levels of 13 per cent since 2008. He said: “The employers have been repeatedly unwilling to get properly to grips with us over the issues we’ve raised. “It’s also significant that this year is the fi rst time the three main unions in the sector have all agreed to do this. “In the past it’s tended to have been UCU alone which has taken
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action over things, but there’s unity this year, which shows that this has to stop. “There could be more strikes [in the future]. We don’t want that, and we would be delighted here and now if the employers were to come and talk to us. “It would be necessary if we did not get an acceptable response from the employers, and ultimately more full strike action would be what we’d have to resort to.” Unison’s head of higher education Jon Richards said: “Our members are upset and angry – this one per cent offer is simply not good enough. “The work of support staff is essential for the smooth running of universities and they play a vital role supporting students, but many are struggling to survive on low pay. “The fact that staff are willing to take strike action shows how desperate they feel.” Both Oxford universities said that measures were being put in place to try and reduce the effect on students.