Staff at 25 English college employers to strike for better pay and working conditions

UCU members at all 25 colleges will be on strike on: 

• Wednesday, 14 January 
• Thursday, 15 January 
• Friday, 16 January 

Staff will be at picket lines on all three days, with a national rally at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster at 12pm on Friday, 16 January. 

UCU members at other colleges have settled their disputes after winning pay awards worth up to 8.7%.   

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. 

The union is pressing employers to work with them to implement meaningful sectoral bargaining so further education can avoid the cycle of strike ballots and disruption over the past few years. 

Employer body, the Association of Colleges (AoC), 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 counterpart in schools. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Industrial action is a last resort for our members, but staff up and down England have been left with no choice. There is still time for colleges to make fair offers that help close the pay gap between school and college teachers. 

'Our demands are reasonable, and management at colleges where staff are taking action need to look at those that worked to settle their disputes. Employers must now 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.'