Support staff at the University of Bristol will take further strike action today (Tuesday) and tomorrow in an ongoing dispute over pay, says UNISON.
Library assistants, administrators and IT workers are among those who will walk out again after rejecting a pay offer of just 1.4%.
The strikes follow walkouts last month, when staff took three days of action in protest at the lowest pay uplift offered to university workers in years, says the union.
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 rising cost of housing in Bristol has added to the pressure on staff wages, adds the union. Since 2014, the average monthly private rent in the city has risen from £647 to £1,889 – an increase of 192%. Over the same period, the average salary of university staff increased from £25,759 to £33,002, a rise of just 28%.
UNISON South West regional secretary Tim Roberts said: “Higher education staff have suffered years of below-inflation pay offers. For the university to come forward with just 1.4% now is simply not good enough.
“Staff don’t want to be on strike. But after years of falling behind financially, they feel they’ve been left with little choice.
“With rent and food prices continuing to rise, workers need a pay rise that helps them keep up with the real cost of living.”
