Don declined to offer support but was willing to discuss the issue. As you can imagine, he argues that a pay rise is not possible because there is no money.
This does not tally with our interpretation of the finances. There is a large surplus and the employers are making choices about where that surplus is to be spent. We are saying that it is time this money was spent on us.
If Universities have to function as businesses these days then they need to do what businesses do - make sure that the infrastructure is sound before building at the top. The people that make this University work are struggling - they cannot make ends meet. Prices have risen by 13% + in the past 5 years and wages have not kept up. We are poorer now than we have been for many years. Today we are not out on the picket lines, but the problem that took us to the pavements has not gone away.
