UCU to launch England wide college strike ballot over pay, workloads and national bargaining

Ballots will open on Monday 13 October and run until Monday 17 November.  

The ballot comes after employer body, the Association of Colleges (AoC), recommended a pay award of just 4%. However, it also accepted that many colleges could not afford to raise pay by even that percentage and there is no obligation on employers to do so.   

UCU, alongside its sister unions NEU, GMB, UNISON and Unite is calling for a New Deal for FE, including a 10%/£3000 pay rise.  

Key demands include:  

• FE pay parity with schoolteachers' pay  
• national workload agreements  
• a new binding national bargaining framework.  

The union will meet to decide the next steps in the coming weeks and said college leaders across England now have a clear choice; make a serious offer or face potential industrial action later this year. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'It is unacceptable that following years of pay degradation, college staff are expected to stomach further real-terms pay cuts, while at the same time dealing with ever-higher workloads. The Prime Minister said this week that Labour wants to put further education on an equal footing with higher education, but this will be impossible unless the government tackles the issues causing half of college teachers to leave the sector within three years. 

'Further education staff are the beating heart of our communities and transform the life chances of hundreds of thousands of students every year. They shouldn't be forced to ballot for industrial action just to get decent pay and conditions. Staff, students and local communities deserve better. Colleges must pay our members fairly and ensure manageable workloads. These changes must be underpinned by a new national collective bargaining structure for the sector. Our demands are reasonable. If they are not met, the sector will face serious disruption in the coming months'