23 February 2018
Dear Professor Cox
Pay deductions for Graduate Teaching Assistants
Following recent communications on pay deductions for Graduate Teaching Assistants who
take part in the current industrial action, we have contacted HR to clarify the amounts that
will be deducted.
We have been told today that pay will be deducted at a rate of £37 for every hour lost to
strike action. So for a GTA taking part in the strike today, if they had been due to teach for
two hours, £74 will be deducted.
This means that if a GTA takes part in all fourteen planned strike days, the total amount of
pay deducted will be £518. The total monthly pay for a GTA is around £299. This means that
for a GTA who does an hour of teaching a day, if they take part in the strike for half the
month, and work as contracted for the other half of the month, they will owe the University
of Kent £219. It is clear that although pay is to be deducted at a rate of £37 an hour, this is
not the amount we are getting paid.
This is punitive for staff taking part in the action, and particularly punishes the most poorly
paid teaching staff. It is morally unjustifiable, and puts GTAs taking part in the strike in a
position of extreme stress and hardship, where they may be unable to pay their rent and
meet ordinary living costs. It also makes no logical sense, as why is pay being deducted at a
rate of £37 an hour when we are not being paid £37 an hour.
Please could you confirm that the advice being provided by HR is correct. If it is, please
could you share with us your justification for this stance and tell us what you are doing to
ensure that you are meeting your duty of care as an employer during the current industrial
action.
Yours sincerely
Owen, Mark and Sian