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Uni staff strike for cost of living 'weighting'

Helen BurchellCambridgeshire
Tom Jackson/BBC A number of people are standing in front of railings at the entrance to a museum. They are dressed warmly and waving red banners with the logo of Unite, the union, on them.Tom Jackson/BBC
Museum staff are among the University of Cambridge workers taking strike action

More than 500 University of Cambridge workers are striking, demanding a "Cambridge weighting" supplement to match that paid to equivalent staff at Oxford University, a union said.

Library, museum, finance and IT staff are among members of Unite taking action over two days, with a further strike planned next week.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Cambridge University is exceptionally wealthy and can more than afford to provide a fair wage for its lowest-paid workers and introduce a local pay supplement as Oxford University has.

A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge said it regretted the action and remained "committed to open and constructive dialogue".

Unite said in a statement: "Cambridge, like Oxford, is one of the most expensive cities in the UK – with rental costs 30% above the national average – and Cambridge University can more than afford to introduce weighting."

In 2024, a pensionable Oxford University weighting of £1,500 per year was introduced. Last year, Oxford increased the payment by 15% to £1,730 and extended it to all non-clinical staff, the union said.

Cambridge staff received no equivalent, apart from a 2.5% interim payment, which did not address the cost of living for those on a low salary and could be removed at any time, it added.

Tom Jackson/BBC David Jackson is looking at the camera and standing in front of railings. He is wearing a hi-vis orange jacket over a pullover. His hair is combine back and he has thick-rimmed spectacles on. In the background are blurred images of people waving red banners on the pavement.Tom Jackson/BBC
David Jackson said high rents and increasing fuel costs meant living in the Cambridge area was "a real strain"

Speaking from a picket line, David Jackson, 32, who works front of house at the university's Fitzwilliam Museum, said staff were looking for a weighting payment "to help us cover the huge cost of living around Cambridge".

A payment in line with that offered to staff at Oxford would help ease the "real strain" of Cambridge's relatively high rents and costs, he said.

The university spokesperson said: "We understand the challenges around cost of living, and have introduced several measures in response, including a supplement of 2.5% of basic pay for employees on lower pay grades, raising the minimum starting salary for research assistants and increasing paid family leave."

Staff are expected to strike again on Wednesday, as well as on 30 April and 1 May.

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