FE BRANCH OFFICERS UPDATE 25 APRIL 2013
 
National Negotiations on England FE Pay 

Negotiations on the joint trade union pay claim opened on Wednesday 24 April.  Following robust exchanges when employers questioned the credibility of our 5% pay claim, the AoC finally tabled the following initial offer to the trade union side:
•	0.5% consolidated pay increase for those earning £15,000 and above;
•	£150 flat rate pay increase for those earning below £15,000; and
•	A willingness to discuss further how the National Joint Forum might support work towards the Living Wage.
•	The above recommendation was made on the condition that the joint trade unions agree to a number of commitments to be set out in a joint statement covering the following issues:
•	That payment of the national recommendation is based on long term affordability;
•	Engagement in local discussions regarding responsiveness to meet Colleges’ needs; and
•	A willingness to engage in discussions regarding local approaches to incremental pay progression.
•	The employers proposed that further work was needed to draft these statements and AoC would prepare the drafting and present it to officers ahead of the next NJF meeting.
The trade union side, while welcoming the fact that the employers had decided to make an initial offer, made it clear that this was not acceptable not only in terms of the level of pay increase but also the attempt to impose conditions particularly those relating to incremental progression. Talks will continue at officer level with the next full negotiating meeting to be held on 16 May.

Campaigning on the claim
The recent branch  consultation indicated little support for declaring a dispute at this stage of negotiations but the FEC is  proposing to the annual sector conference in May that in the event of an unacceptable final offer, UCU should ballot members for strike action as near as possible to the beginning of October.
Branches will shortly be asked by the membership department to undertake membership checks. Please ensure you do this so that we are ready to launch an industrial ballot later in the year if necessary.
Campaigning materials are available at http://www.ucu.org.uk/fepayengland
Some hard copies of posters will be sent to branches very shortly and further copies of materials are available on request.                         

Barry Lovejoy
National Head of Further Education