News and updates
4% pay offer accepted
Staff agree 2026 pay deal but feelings of anger remain
THE 2026 pay claim has now been settled after all three staff unions voted to accept UNISON’s 4% pay offer. Around 61% of ACTS, SUE and NUJ members chose to accept the offer on a turnout of 85%. The consolidated rise will also be applied to all allowances, with separate improvements to the childcare allowance. The offer also included an extra statutory leave day on Christmas Eve (or the Friday before where that’s a weekend). The rise will be backdated to 1 January and paid in June or July, to be confirmed by the employer. Trade union side and management reps first discussed 2026 pay in September 2025, but the employer dragged its feet, not making a serious offer until well into the new year. Staff delivered an enormous vote to reject that 3.4% offer. It then took talks at Acas to uncover financial information that negotiators has asked for and get the improved offer — still a real-terms pay cut with inflation running at 4.1%. Trade union side secretary Abby Kimantas said: “Staff have opted to settle this year’s pay dispute but the employer can’t ignore the size of the reject vote. “And we know many of those voting to accept will have been holding their nose as they did so. “UNISON will need to make a serious effort to reverse the years of real-terms pay cuts if it’s going avoid another dispute in 2027.”
Unions keep up push for greater transparency on staff pensions
STAFF unions are continuing to push for improved pensions communication after the shock changes to pensions in December. Workers planning their retirement had the cat put among the pigeons when actuaries changed some of the technical provisions of the pension scheme. It affected the early retirement factors — the financial penalties staff face for going before the normal retirement age — and the calculations used to exchange pension for lump sum on retirement, known as the commutation rate, leaving many staff with a much smaller nest egg than they expected. The trade union side sought in dependent advice on the chang es which confirmed that neither the trustees nor UNISON had technically broken any rules. There is no formal requirement to inform scheme members of the change and the actuaries are expected to calculate a fair value based on prevailing market conditions, said the advisor, adding that the factors could be improved next time they’re examined if interest rates and gilt yields come down. Trade union side secretary Abby Kimantas said: “It’s disappointing that pensions rules leave schemes so much leeway to leave staff in the dark. “But it’s good news that the employer and trustees have committed to better communication on the website about how these changes are made as well as the importance of not relying on forecasts as they can change.”
Stress survey postponed
MANAGEMENT have informed the trade union side that the planned stress survey has been delayed due to capacity issues in HR. Staff unions reported a practical coup when UNISON agreed to use the Health and Safety Executive stress indica tor tool to try to identify issues around stress and improve UNISON’s handling of it but staff have again been left waiting. The tool is a fully automated online survey that risk assesses stress and provides recommendations for improving staff wellbeing.
Our UNITE colleagues working for other unions taking strike action
Staff, also organised by UNITE, in both the National Education Union (NEU) and University & College Union (UCU), have been forced to take strike action this month in long-running disputes.
It is time our unions stopped treating its staff in ways they criticise other employers for using against trade unionists we organise amongst and represent in our daily jobs.
Futher details can be found at the UNITE website by hitting the appropriate link (see right).
UCU
NEU
Branch Employed Staff questionnaire sent out by the branch
An information questionnaire was sent out to senior stewards for onward circulation to out BES members on 19 January 2026. If you haven't received this by the end of the month, please contact your senior steward as a matter of urgency. The questionnaire is a simple one to be completed online checking we have your correct details currently.
Equal pay audit delayed
The search is on for UNISON’s equal pay audit. UNISON committed to commissioning the audit every three years to ensure its complying with the law and good practice. The last audit in 2021 said other key purposes were to “demonstrate to staff our commitment to fairness and equity” and “demonstrate our values to our staff and other key stakeholders”. A joint working committee is supposed to consider the report and make recommendations based on it. The report should have been published in May 2024 but it is unclear how far along the commissioning process it is.
HR: no way of knowing spend on consultants
UNISON has no apparent idea how much it spends on consultants, the TU side has learned. Staff side unions asked for a breakdown of consultant and freelancer costs as part of understanding the union’s overall payroll obligations in September. But no information has been shared with reps. Finance and human resources have said that the costs are included in departmental budgets and as such there is therefore no way to establish an overall spend. TU side secretary Abby Kimantas said: “It’s incomprehensible that UNISON has no way of tracking how much it’s spending across the organisation on consultants or freelancers. “There are of course scenarios where it’s right to bring in outside expertise. “But it’s far more expensive than employing people directly and means we’re denying existing staff the chance to boost their skills. “This spending needs to be transparent so that it can be properly understood and monitored.”