Union Urges UK Universities to Raise Salaries Using $4Bln Earmarked for 'Vanity Projects'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK's University and College Union (UCU) on Monday called on British higher education institutions to use their surplus of 3.4 billion pounds ($4 billion) on raising employees' salaries amid the living cost crisis rather than on "needless vanity projects."

"The sector must rethink its priorities and use its surpluses and the money saved from scrapping 'needless vanity projects' to raise staff pay to help them through the cost of living crisis. In 2020/21, the most recent financial year, universities finished with £3.4bn more cash in the bank than they started it with," the statement read.

It said that university leaders had confirmed to the Office for Students (OfS) regulator that they were planning to increase the overall capital expenditure by 36% in 2022 to 4.6 billion pounds.

"The university sector is not only hoarding billions of pounds in cash, but also planning an eye-watering spending spree on shiny new vanity projects - all whilst holding down staff pay, cutting pensions and plunging thousands into hardship in a cost of living crisis. It is inconceivable and insulting," UCU general secretary Jo Grady said.

The billions of so-called extra cash have been obtained from "core operations, such as teaching, administration and research, and must therefore be reinvested into staff," the statement also said.

A portion of the planned capital expenditure should be "diverted to raise pay, bring staff onto permanent contracts and restore pension benefits." as, according to the UCU's analysis, spending on staff increased by only 200 million pounds during 2020-2021.

It added that the UK universities, however, offered a pay rise of 3% to all employees and provided a 9%-salary-increase to the lowest paid staff amid the highest inflation rate, which hit a new 40-year high of 10,1% in July from 9.4% in June.

The UK has been facing a wave of strikes in recent months due to record inflation. Railway and airport employees, lawyers, postmen and workers in other areas have been protesting against job cuts, low pay while also demanding the improvement of working conditions.