AUT: Johnson welcomed back to education
Friday, 05 May 2006 14:53
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AUT welcomes Johnson back to education and reminds him of commitment on staff pay
The Association of University Teachers (AUT) today welcomed the appointment of Alan Johnson MP as secretary of state for education. Mr Johnson committed money from the new top-up fee regime to staff pay when minister for higher education in 2004.
The current pay dispute between unions and universities is causing havoc on campuses across the UK. AUT members are infuriated that their employers reneged on a promise to spend at least a third of the new income from top-up fees and government grants on pay.
In April 2004 when higher education minister, Mr Johnson told the House of Commons that the employers had promised to spend at least a third of the new money on staff pay and conditions. The employers tried to distance themselves from the remarks once top-up fees were on the statute. However, in January 2006 Mr Johnson confirmed it was the universities’ lobby group, Universities UK, who had indeed promised the money.
Commenting on Mr Johnson’s appointment, AUT general secretary, Sally Hunt, said:
“Alan Johnson is a hugely respected MP and minister and, of course, a former trade union leader. The current pay dispute is at a critical stage and we are very fortunate that the man who told the truth about universities’ commitment to staff pay is back in education.
“We have repeatedly asked the employers to honour their commitment to use the new money they lobbied for to sort out staff pay. The employers’ attempts to wriggle out of that commitment are as shameful as they are deceitful. To save themselves from any further embarrassment the employers must use Monday’s pay talks to honour their prior commitment on pay and the more recent ones about making staff a fair offer. A failure to do so will let down everyone involved in this dispute and only cause them further embarrassment.”
Background to the argument between unions and employers over Alan Johnson’s comments:
On 29 April 2004 speaking at the House of Commons in response to a Parliamentary Question about how top-up fee income would be spent Alan Johnson said: “Not only are we putting in an extra £3 billion from the taxpayer, but an extra £2 billion will come through existing fees and through the increase. University vice-chancellors tell us that, in general, at least a third of that money will be put back into the salaries and conditions of their staff. That will make an enormous contribution in tackling a very serious and deep-seated problem.”
The university employers denied that this constituted a commitment on their behalf to spend that money on staff pay. In a briefing from January this year they said: “No such commitment has ever been given to Government by universities – collectively or individually.”
On Thursday 19 January 2006, in response to a question from a journalist at an event at the University College London if his comment in the House of Commons was based on conversations with a few vice-chancellors or vice-chancellors representing across the sector, Alan Johnson said it was from Universities UK. ‘Universities UK is the universities’ collective lobby group.
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