Pay rises of up to 12% for University of Chichester bosses while staff get just 1%

 The refusal comes as the university's latest accounts show the salary of the second highest paid member of staff rose by at least £15k, an increase of 12%, between 2021 and 2022. 

The accounts also show the vice-chancellor's basic pay jumped by more than 6% to £185k, and the total remuneration of senior staff (all key management personnel) went up by 8%. The number of staff earning over £100k has more than doubled since 2017. 

In an all-staff email, vice-chancellor Longmore said the "challenging financial situation" would make increasing staff pay by any more than 1% unaffordable. The average salary at Chichester is just £24k and inflation is currently 13.5%.  

Staff at 145 universities, including Chichester, are currently boycotting all marking and assessments in a dispute over pay and working conditions. The boycott will continue until employers make an improved offer, at which point UCU will decide whether to continue the action or call it off.  

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'It is frankly sickening that Chichester vice-chancellor Jane Longmore has allowed pay for senior staff to increase by up to 12% whilst pleading poverty when it comes to the pay of the rest of her workforce. Our members are furious that they are being made to suffer brutal real term pay cuts yet those at the top rake in even more.  

'What is happening at Chichester is the thin end of the wedge, and across higher education UCU members are taking industrial action to win the pay award they deserve. Vice-chancellors everywhere need to stop making excuses and use the sector's wealth to raise pay and end ongoing industrial action.'