Staff at Isle of Wight College to strike for better pay and working conditions

The action follows the decision by UCU members at the college to turn down an offer of a 4% pay rise, an offer does not meet the aspirations of UCU members at Isle of Wight College on pay, workload, and with insufficient movement on a review of local pay scales. 

University and College Union (UCU) members will be on strike on: 

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

Staff will be on picket lines from 8am till 10am on each day of the action outside the entrance to the college on Medina Way, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 5TA.   

Striking staff from across England will rally at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster from 12pm on Friday, 16 January. 

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. The average college teacher earns £9,000 less than their counterpart in schools. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Industrial action is last resort for our members, but staff at Isle of Wight College have been left with no choice. There is still time for management to make a fair offer that helps close the pay gap between school and college teachers. 

'Our demands are reasonable, and management needs 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.'