FAIR PAY 2026/27

👀 Key info

  • UCEA’s (Universities & Colleges employer association) JNCHES (Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff) final pay offer for 2026-27 is 2% (see 2026-27 New JNCHES pay round).
  • This offer remains well under inflation (as our pay offers have since 2008…), and comes at a time when Bristol has been named England’s least affordable city to rent in (see BBC News).
  • Back in May, you voted in consultation relating o this offer – the national result was 14% accept and 86% reject (see 26/7 pay offer consultative ballot results and other updates – University of Bristol UNISON).
  • The next step could be an official ballot, which paves the way for possible industrial action.
  • The University will nevertheless be implementing this 2% pay increase.

What Can I do right now?

If you haven’t already, JOIN UNISON.

Join the ACTION GROUP on Teams and help mobilise with other members! Ask your workplace contact or a branch activist to add you to the group.

Join the UoB UNISON WhatsApp community to chat, lament, and scheme. Ask your workplace contact or a branch activist for an invite.

Get ready for possible strike action by reading our FAQs:

strike FAQ

Talk to your colleagues about industrial action:

Talking to colleagues about industrial action

The story so far

2025/26 pay offer

  • UCEA imposed a 1.4% increase on all pay points from 1 August 2025. With RPI inflation at 4.8% as of July 2025, this equaled a 3.4% pay cut in real terms for staff.
  • As a result, In June and July 2026, UoB branch members voted overwhelmingly to reject the offer in an initial consultation. 95% voted reject on a 63% turnout.
  • UNISON, along with the other Higher Education unions UCU, Unite and EIS, then ran a postal ballot for strike action over the 1.4% pay offer.
  • At UoB, 60% of members returned their ballot, and 93% voted YES for strike action: We did it! ✊
  • This result sent a clear message to the university’s senior management that they can no longer continue to erode staff pay as an easy solution to financial difficulties.
  • We then took place in national days of action along with other Higher Education institutions in the first months of 2026: