Teachers in 23 sixth form colleges who are members of the NASUWT union have voted for strike action – in a ballot that “confusingly” included academised sixth forms.
The union is also controversially refusing to reveal the names of the colleges that have voted to strike.
It comes a week after members of the National Education Union called off their proposed further strikes, having already hit the picket lines for eight days, after deciding to consult on a pay deal of 4.3 per cent for 2024/25 put forward by the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA).
The disputes stem from ministers’ decision last summer to hand schools and sixth form colleges that have converted to academy status a slice of £1.2 billion to help cover a 5.5 per cent salary boost for teachers.
The funding was not extended to the 40 sixth form colleges that have decided to not academise. It meant there would be an unequal pay rise for standalone sixth form college teachers and their colleagues who work in academised sixth form colleges in 2024/25.
The SFCA secured an extra £50 million from government in December to be released this academic year, following threat of a judicial review, to help fund pay rises in standalone sixth form colleges. This increased their pay offer from 2 per cent to 4.3 per cent.
NASUWT launched its strike ballot in January. The union’s general secretary Patrick Roach (pictured) claimed at the time that standalone sixth form college employers have spent the past months “advancing spurious arguments to justify not passing on an acceptable pay award to their teachers”.
Despite the fact that academised sixth form colleges were already implementing a 5.5 per cent pay rise for their teachers for the full 2024/25 academic year, NASUWT also balloted academised sixth form colleges.
It is not clear why the union chose to do this.
A press release from the union stated: “As a result of the NASUWT’s decision to ballot members working in sixth form college academies, the employers have confirmed that a 5.5 per cent pay award backdated to September 2024 will now be paid to all teachers. Once the pay awards are implemented, the NASUWT’s disputes in individual sixth form college academies will be resolved.”
A ‘confusing and disappointing move’
The union claimed that 23 sixth form colleges voted in support of strike action and/or action short of strike action, with a turnout of 56 per cent.
Bill Watkin, chief executive of the SFCA, said this is a “confusing and disappointing move from NASUWT”.
He told FE Week: “They appear to have balloted members in 16 to 19 academies even though teachers in these institutions will receive the 5.5 per cent pay award NASUWT is seeking.
“They have not provided a list of the 23 institutions that have voted in support of strike action so we are unclear if any are 16 to 19 academies and will therefore not be affected but it appears that teachers voted not to strike in nearly three quarters of the institutions balloted. And they have completely ignored the role of the government in this dispute.
“Sixth form colleges cannot make the same pay award as 16 to 19 academies unless they receive the same funding to support a pay award. Rather than penalising students that have already experienced eight days of disruption as a result of this dispute, NASUWT should be working with us to secure the additional funding required from the government. This is a divisive and poorly timed development given that sixth form colleges are in the process of implementing the pay offer for 2024/25.”
Roach said: “All sixth form college employers have the flexibility to use their existing funds, reserves and additional funding allocations due in April this year to deliver the 5.5 per cent backdated award in full. There is simply no excuse and no justification for any teacher to be denied a fair and equitable pay award.
“We are today giving notice to college employers that they can avoid industrial action where they agree to provide teachers with the 5.5 per cent backdated pay award to which they are entitled.”
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