Letter: Angry reaction to government veto of universities' pay settlement

Sir: The refusal of the Government to sanction the universities' pay deal is appalling. However, I doubt that many members of the public will notice. As a profession we have a hard time attracting any public support because of the

popular belief that we teach a few hours a week and have long

holidays.

I spend all of my time doing research, not teaching, and I wish to make the point that a substantial proportion of those affected by the hold-up of this pay deal are not lecturers. They are the staff who run the libraries, administration and computing services and who perform the research in universities. The Association of University Teachers also represents all these other staff.

It is about time that the media dropped their references to 'lecturers' salaries' and 'lecturers' union' and used phrases that more accurately describe those

involved.

Yours faithfully,

SUSAN D. HEWITT

Hexham, Northumberland

17 July