
UCU response to 'disappointing' further education pay recommendation
11 October 2024
UCU has today responded to the latest further education pay recommendation from the Association of Colleges (AoC).
The further education employer body is recommending a pay offer of 2.5% or £750, whichever is greater.
As part of the union's New Deal For FE campaign, UCU members are calling for a 10% or £3k pay rise along with:
- parity with schoolteacher pay
- a minimum starting salary of £30,000
- closure of equality pay gaps
- national agreements on workload
- a return to national bargaining.
University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said, 'This recommendation is hugely disappointing and fails to recognise the value and contribution of our members working in further education. A pay increase of 2.5% just won't make up for years of below-inflation awards or remedy the £9k pay gap between school and college teachers.
'Most further education teachers work on average over 48 hours a week, and around half of qualified teachers leave the sector within 3 years. This will only get worse unless we see greater investment and the closing of the pay gap. Labour cannot ignore the crisis in further education any longer. Their ambitious plans to develop a more skilled workforce and the creation of Skills England are in danger of failing unless they ensure better pay, a workforce strategy and a new national bargaining framework for further education.'
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