Staff at 32 colleges vote to strike over low pay

An overwhelming 90% of staff who voted in the England wide further education college ballot said they would back strike action. Ballots were held locally, and UCU beat the restrictive 50% turnout threshold at 32 colleges. UCU members at a further 17 colleges have voted to settle their disputes after winning pay awards worth up to 8.7%. 

The union's further education committee will now meet on Friday (21 November) to decide next steps. 

UCU, alongside its sister unions NEU, GMB, UNISON and Unite is calling for a New Deal for FE, including pay parity with schoolteachers, national workload agreements and a binding national bargaining framework.

Employer body, the Association of Colleges, has recommended a pay uplift of 4% but colleges do not have to follow it, and many have failed to do so in previous pay rounds. The average college teacher earns £9,000 less than their counterparts in schools.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'College staff have turned out in huge numbers to show they are willing to down tools in the fight for decent pay and decent working conditions. Thanks to the pressure of our strike ballots we have also won pay deals at a further 17 colleges. Other college bosses now need to look to those institutions, make staff fair offers that help close the pay gap between school and college teachers, and avoid the disruption of strike action.

'We are also calling on employers to agree to meaningful sectoral bargaining so further education can avoid the cycle of strike ballots and disruption that we have seen over the past few years.'