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UCU says simply asking VCs to leave room when their pay
is discussed won’t tackle excess pay
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Union says students and staff should be on the
remuneration committee and the VC banned from
attending
The University and College Union (UCU) has described a new
voluntary code to cover vice-chancellors’ pay as “woefully
inadequate”. The union was commenting on the release of the
remuneration code from the Committee of University Chairs (CUC)
released today (Wednesday).
The union said it was particularly disappointed that the code
does not ban vice-chancellors from attending the remuneration
committee - the committee that sets their pay. Both the code and
the accompanying letter from CUC chair Chris Sayers state that
vice-chancellors should not be a member of the remuneration
committee, but may still attend meetings if they leave the room
when their pay is discussed.
UCU said the bizarre gentleman’s agreement where the boss steps
outside while the committee discussed their pay deal would do
nothing to tackle excessive pay. A recent UCU report discovered
that 95% of vice-chancellors
can attend the committee that sets their pay, even if some
already leave the meeting when their own pay comes up.
Vice-chancellors’ pay and perks have made headlines in recent
years despite a long list of
ministers promising to take measures to reign in the
worst excesses. Previous pleas for
restraint have fallen on deaf ears and UCU said that
another voluntary code was unlikely to make much difference.
The union said vice-chancellors defending their pay deals
while boasting about
Bentleys or comparing themselves to
Premiership footballers had done little to suggest they
understood why their huge hikes were a problem and emphasised
just how out of touch many of them were.
UCU also said staff and students need to have a place on
university remuneration committees to ensure leaders are held
properly accountable.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: ‘This woefully inadequate
code is nothing more than another plea for restraint to a group
of people who have ignored every previous request. It is
staggering that it does not even ban vice-chancellors from
attending the meetings where their pay is set. A bizarre
gentleman’s agreement where the boss steps outside while their
pay is discussed is not how you tackle excessive pay.
‘The embarrassing comparisons some vice-chancellors have made
between themselves and bankers and footballers, or the pride they
have taken in their Bentleys and yachts, has demonstrated how out
of touch they are.
‘If university leaders are to be held properly accountable, we
need students and staff to be sitting on the committees which set
their pay.’
