Professional services staff at King’s College London (KCL), represented by trade union Unison, are set to strike again on 25–26 March over a below-inflation national pay offer, having striked earlier in the month on 10–11 March.
The strikes come after 89% of participating members of KCL Unison rejected the 1.4% pay offer made by the national University and College Employers Association (UCEA), on behalf of King’s.
Defending the pay rise, King’s has pointed to the “significant financial challenge across” the sector and its additional “uplifts” for those living in London.
At strikes earlier in the month, striking staff at King’s picketed across multiple campuses and were joined by Unison members from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Those striking include library staff, security personnel, administrators, caterers, cleaning staff, IT workers and other professional services jobs.
Unison is a public service union that represents over 1.3 million workers nationally. They provide advice, support regarding low pay, sick leave procedure and help in case of disciplinary action or redundancies.
Why Strike?
As part of its annual negotiations, the UCEA made a 1.4% pay offer in May 2025 to the five higher-education trade unions in the UK. In 2025, UK CPI inflation ranged between 3.3-3.6%, according to official data.
All five unions, including Unison, rejected the offer, calling it “insulting” in a joint statement.
“We cannot accept an offer that does nothing to address the crisis in higher education by failing to protect jobs, nationally agreed employment terms, or pay.”
Joint statement from the higher-education trade unions
However, KCL and some other universities, such as SOAS and the University of Bristol, decided to impose the offer in spite of the unions’ protests.
Whilst members of SOAS Unison told Roar that the average salary for professional services staff at King’s is less than £25,000 per annum, King’s states that this is instead above £40,000. The median salary in London is £49,692 as of 2025.
In August 2025, Unison consulted with the University and College Union (UCU) about the pay offer, with Unison ultimately deciding to ballot its branch members across the nation about indsutrial action in October.
At KCL Unison, 89% of participating members voted in favour of strike action. The national requirement is 50%. Strike attendees emphasised that this is about “fair pay” and “respect”.
According to KCL Unison branch chair Ruth Denton, KCL and SOAS were the only two London universities to meet the threshold for strike action after balloting.
She added that “nationally, everyone is terrified of job losses”, as a result of the strikes, which may explain why only a few universities have striked.
Only eight institutions were able to strike on a national level, including the University of Bristol, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Essex.
At the last strikes
In a speech Antonia Bright, co-branch secretary of SOAS Unison, said that “vice-chancellors and higher education directors should feel ashamed at the money they are putting in their pockets”.
She called on students to stand with their cause by arguing that they are supported by “workers who can barely pay their rent or their bills “
Speaking to Roar, one member said that their colleagues had to move out of London because of inadequate pay; another stated that they needed “2–3 jobs to survive”.
“King’s College London has a lot of money”, said one attendee, “they can recognise us”. King’s reported an operational surplus of £32.8 million in this year’s financial statements.
Members highlighted that without their work the university would not be able to function. One member of cleaning staff said that they “feel very vulnerable” and do not “have any fair rights”.
What next?
Roar spoke to an attendee striking on behalf of KCL Unison who said that given the “ball is very much in King’s College’s court”, KCL must come to Unison with an offer to reopen negotiations.
Speaking about KCL vice-chancellor Shitij Kapur, the attendee said that they all members “feel [Kapur’s advocacy] has not gone far enough in the negotiations because those negotiations have not reopened. It’s as simple as that”.
Unison trade union staff workers will again strike on the 24–25 of March if the dispute surrounding the “appallingly low pay” is not resolved in negotiations.
A King’s spokesperson told Roar:
“Recognising our professional services colleagues for the contribution they make to our King’s community is important to us, and we continue to offer competitive salaries, excellent pensions and generous leave allowances.
“As well as implementing the nationally agreed pay uplift, we secured an additional locally negotiated increase to London Weighting Allowance, and spine point uplifts for all staff who are not already at the top of their pay grade.
“In addition, during a period of significant financial challenge across our sector, we have continued to invest in professional development and services – and will keep doing so as a priority part of King’s 2030 strategy.
“During strike days, we will have measures in place to ensure that our students experience minimal disruption and can continue to access campus facilities and services”.
