Staff at Barnet and Southgate College have voted to take industrial action in a long-running dispute over low pay and workload, the University and College Union (UCU) announced today (Monday).
Staff were balloted last month and voted 96% in favour of strike action on a turnout of 67%.
Staff have already taken three days of strike action in the long-running dispute after college bosses imposed pay awards of just 1% for 2021/22 and 1% for 2020/21. The college has now imposed a further "pitiful" pay award of just 2.5% for 2022/23.
National funding for 16-19 year olds has increased by 8.4% this year and college accounts show Barnet and Southgate generated a surplus of over £2.6m in 2022, has almost £8m in cash sitting in the bank and more than £43m in reserves. Inflation is currently 13.4% and UCU is demanding a meaningful pay rise to help staff meet the cost-of-living crisis.
