Our members have just voted ‘yes’ to strike action at 32 colleges in the fight for fair pay and conditions. Given the state of further education, this should come as no surprise.
Pay has been held down so much that college teachers now earn £9,000 less than their counterparts in schools. Workloads are so high that staff say they are forced to work an average of two days extra each week, unpaid, just to keep up.
After our ballot started, the college employer body the Association of Colleges (AoC) met with us and recommended a 6.5 per cent pay uplift. The recommendation confirms what we know: that after years of campaigning by UCU, further education is finally getting some of the funding it needs.
Indeed, many employers can afford to offer much more than 6.5 per cent – and should do so.
