Decasualisation win hailed

A “landmark win” for thousands of staff at the Open University (OU) was last month hailed as “a huge step forward in ending casualisation” at the institution by the UCU university and college union.


The union said that the biggest decasualisation programme ever to take place in the higher education sector will be “life-changing” for 4,800 associate lecturers who have moved onto secure contracts at the OU. 


In what the UCU described as a “landmark win”, it reported that staff moved to the new contracts on 1 August 2022 and will benefit from enhanced job security, a pay uplift of between 10% and 15%, additional annual leave and staff development allowances. 


General secretary Jo Grady said the new arrangements see the associate lecturers moved onto secure contracts that mean they no longer have to constantly re-apply for their jobs. 


She added that “after many years of hard work, and while we recognise there is still more to do, we are celebrating this huge step forward in ending casualisation at the OU”.


The move followed extensive negotiations between the OU and the UCU. And, with more than 70,000 university staff across the UK currently on fixed-term contracts, the union has called on other universities across the UK to follow its lead and “end the scourge of casualisation”. 


Grady said the UCU will try to reach similar agreements elsewhere.