Three consecutive days of strike action at Sparsholt College in Hampshire will begin Monday after management refused to make a realistic pay offer.
Staff will be picketing the college every day of the action. They have already taken three days of strike action this academic year in the long running pay dispute and are demanding a pay rise that helps them meet the cost-of-living crisis. RPI inflation is currently at 14% and the college is based in one of the least affordable areas to live in the UK. Despite this, the college has only offered an £850 consolidated pay rise alongside one off payments totalling just £450.
UCU says management can easily afford to pay staff a fair wage. College accounts show Sparsholt has over £7m cash in the bank, has run a surplus for the past two years and has increased senior staff pay by over 16%. The college spends just 60% of its total income on staff, well below the English average of 68%.
