Bournemouth University bosses get huge pay rises as staff strike for fair pay

The large rises sit at odds with the miserly 1% university staff were offered by bosses this year. That offer has left staff with a 13% real-terms pay cut since 2009, and prompted them to walk out twice in an increasingly bitter national dispute over pay.

UCU, which represents lecturers, said big pay increases for the few at the top, while the majority of staff fight for fair pay, would do little to temper staff frustration, or help solve the pay row.

In communications with staff during the industrial action, Bournemouth University claimed the pay negotiations took place, 'against a backdrop of economic stagnation and expectations of restraint given a public sector pay policy that limits pay increases to 1%'.

But Bournemouth University's financial statement, published shortly before Christmas, shows no such restraint for those at the top:

• salaries for six top managers at Bournemouth University increased by 30% between 2012 and 2013. All are on six-figure salaries
• Bournemouth University vice-chancellor, Professor John Vinney, has seen his salary shoot up by nearly 19% from £178,000 in 2012, to £211,000 in 2013
• when pension contributions and benefits in kind are added in, the vice-chancellor's overall pay package was £244,000 in 2013
• since being appointed in 2010, Professor John Vinney's overall pay package (including pay, pension contributions and benefits in kind) has risen by 22%
• the total number of academic staff at Bournemouth University has decreased by 8% since 2008.

Local UCU spokesperson, John Brissenden, said: 'Bosses at Bournemouth University are lining their pockets at the expense of staff and students. UCU members have seen their pay cut in real terms by 13% in the past five years as bosses have pleaded poverty to keep pay down.

'These eye-watering pay rises demonstrate the startling hypocrisy of a leadership who clearly believe there is one rule for them and one for everyone else. Staff, students and parents will understandably wonder how the university can justify such huge pay rises at a time when staff have been forced to accept pay cuts. The controversial revelations will certainly galvanise staff as we continue our fight for fair pay.'