Support staff at Manchester Metropolitan University have ended a three-day strike over what they described as an "insulting" 1.4 per cent pay offer.
The walkout, which ran from February 10 to February 12, saw library assistants, administrators, and IT workers picket outside All Saints Park on Oxford Road.
The industrial action was organised by UNISON, which had condemned the below-inflation pay rise as the lowest offer since 2020. Speaking ahead of the strike, Mike Short, UNISON’s head of education, stated: "University workers have suffered years of below-inflation pay offers. Staff think it's nothing short of an insult for bosses to come to the table with just 1.4 per cent."
The union highlighted that no pay increase for university staff has matched inflation since the 2008 financial crash. Vic Walsh, UNISON North West regional organiser, added: "Staff at Manchester Metropolitan University [took] strike action because they're not going to swallow the lowest pay offer in years during a cost-of-living crisis."
The disputed offer, which covers the 2025/26 academic year, was made in May by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). The strike followed a ballot in which more than nine in ten (92 per cent) of participating staff supported action, on a turnout of 52 per cent.
With the three days of action now complete, staff have returned to their posts. It remains unclear whether any further negotiations between UNISON and the university management are planned following the protest.
Source: Bury Times