Pay negotiating body suspends Queen's University Belfast for three years for outside agreement
Queen’s University has been suspended for three years by a pay negotiating body. The Universities and Colleges Employer’s Association (UCEA) said it comes after a local agreement on pay had been made outside of the collective pay arrangements. That agreement was made during negotiations to end a marking and assessment boycott which had impacted on final year students poised to graduate.
The UCEA is a body which conducts collective pay negotiations with the five sector trade unions through the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. In a statement, the UCEA said that Queen’s had opted into collective pay negotiations for 2023-24 and was expected to follow the UCEA Code. “On June 28, a joint statement from Queen’s University Belfast and the University and College Union (UCU), Queen’s branch confirmed a local agreement on pay had been made outside of the collective pay arrangements,” it said. “The UCEA board has now had a chance to consider the representations from QUB and has concluded that this is an extremely serious matter and that the actions of QUB are incompatible with continued membership of UCEA. “Accordingly, the board has informed QUB of its decision to terminate their UCEA membership for a period of three years in the first instance.”
In response, Queen’s said in a statement its focus “has always placed our students first”. The response added: “Our students were one of the first in the UK to have their graduation affected by the UCU marking and assessment boycott. “We witnessed at first hand the devastating effect it has had on them and their families. “In the absence of any progress being made nationally regarding the industrial action, the local arrangement between Queen’s branch of UCU and the university, allowed us to conduct 22 graduation ceremonies for our students and enable them to celebrate their success with their families and friends. “It has also enabled us to provide students awaiting their degree classifications with certainty as to when they will be received. “Therefore, we remain convinced that this local arrangement was the correct and most appropriate course of action for our university and our students.”
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