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Welsh college staff vote for strike action over pay and workload

22 October 2018

UCU members in Welsh further education colleges* have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over pay and workload.

Nine in ten (91%) UCU members who voted backed strike action over pay, while a similar proportion (90%) voted in favour of strike action over workload.

The dispute has arisen after the employer body Colegau Cymru rejected the joint trade unions' pay claim for a rise of 7.5% or £1,500, instead making a final offer of 1%. The employers have also refused to negotiate on workload issues while the pay dispute is ongoing.

UCU said that the 1% pay offer would do nothing to address the falling value of staff pay in further education, and that the refusal to negotiate on workload had left members deeply frustrated.

The union said it was now up to the employers to return to the negotiating table with an improved offer on pay and workload.

UCU Wales official, Margaret Phelan, said: 'This result shows that staff are not prepared to just stand by and watch their pay and conditions deteriorate. The employers' 1% pay offer does nothing to address the declining value of college pay and the refusal to address workload concerns has left members deeply frustrated.

'The employers now need to recognise the level of concern amongst college staff and return to the negotiating table with an improved offer on pay and workload as a matter of urgency.'

*UCU members in the following colleges were balloted for strike action:
Bridgend College  & Pencoed
Cardiff & Vale College
Coleg Cambria (Llysfasi, Yale and Deeside)
Merthyr College
Gower College Swansea
Coleg  Gwent
Grŵp GLLM
Coleg Y Cymoedd
Pembrokeshire College
Grŵp Neath Port Talbot
Coleg Sirgar
Coleg Ceredigion

Last updated: 24 October 2018

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