Staff in half the colleges that voted to strike this week have called off their industrial action after agreeing to pay deals or to allow time for further talks.
Teacher members of the University and College Union in 33 colleges voted to strike in November and were set to walk out today, tomorrow and Friday.
But since then a number have settled their disputes with pay deals of up to 7 per cent, while a further eight colleges suspended the action at the last minute so union representatives can further negotiate with college bosses.
Members of the UCU from 17 colleges across England will continue to protest low pay offers and poor working conditions (see list below).
Strikes due at The Sheffield College, Abingdon & Witney College, Lancaster and Morecambe College, Stanmore College, Barnet & Southgate College and the City of Bristol College, New College Swindon, Wirral Met, and Kirklees College have been abandoned in recent days.
UCU opened a nationwide ballot in October after the “disappointing” 4 per cent pay rise recommendation from the Association of Colleges for this year.
The union’s New Deal for FE campaign, alongside sister unions NEU, GMB, UNISON and Unite, is demanding pay parity with schoolteachers, national workload agreements and a binding national bargaining framework.
Union members at 33 of the 54 balloted colleges passed the legally required 50 per cent turnout threshold and backed strike action.
A total of 68 colleges were in dispute with bosses before the ballot. Twenty-one colleges failed to meet the turnout threshold, and 20 colleges have since settled their disputes.
Teachers take to the streets
UCU members at Sheffield College and Kirklees College voted to pause action for two of the three strike action days and will be consulted on whether to put down tools on Friday.
Leaders at Sheffield have put in contingency plans to “minimise” potential disruption should teachers agree to walk out on Friday as well.
“We welcome the cancellation of strikes for two days this week,” said Paul Simpson, executive director for people at The Sheffield College.
“We are continuing discussions with UCU and committed to resolving this dispute, which affects a number of further education colleges nationally.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Braithwaite, principal & CEO of Lancaster and Morecambe College (LMC), said he has offered teachers a salary rise of 4 per cent due to a “sustained” increase in student numbers and “efficient” financial management.
He said: “We are now focusing on further development of our curriculum to support the continued growth of our 16-18 cohort and expanding our level 3 technical pathways provision.”
UCU members at LMC also accepted pay measures such as a £30,366 starting salary, an additional spine point at the top of the pay scale, and an agreement on workload protections, including a reduction in annual teaching hours, additional safety protections and prioritised time for planning and marking.
Lecturers at Abingdon and Witney College have suspended their strike action to consider a new 4 per cent offer by management.
Representatives will also negotiate an offer to remove the current average annual teaching hours agreement and replace it with a maximum number of annual teaching hours, an action plan on workload concerns, and close the college for two weeks over Christmas so staff will not need to take annual leave.
Staff at City of Bristol College have also voted to suspend this week’s planned strike to allow for further talks on pay scales with bosses.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “It is down to the determination and solidarity of our members which shows what can be achieved when workers unionise and stand together.
“To avoid disruption on campus this week, leaders at colleges where we are still in dispute need to make meaningful offers and show they value their staff.”
Capital City College sixth form teachers march on
National Education Union members at a sixth form college in Angel, part of Capital City College, are also striking today for three days as part of a long-running but separate dispute.
Representatives say the current offer will leave sixth form teachers £1,616 per year behind other sixth form teachers on the same contracts.
The ongoing dispute has led to 16 days of industrial action due to CCC’s “intolerable” plans to freeze sixth-form teacher salaries for two to three years to bring them in line with FE lecturers.
NEU members, who coordinated this week’s strike with UCU to “march separately but strike together”, will also join a national strike rally this Friday in central London.
UCU counterparts at the college group are also striking this week. Members rejected a pay offer of 4 per cent, a 4.5 per cent rise for those on a salary of £25,000 or less, and a one-off payment of £200-250 for those earning £34,000 or less.
The current list of colleges on strike between January 14, 15, 16 (correct at the time of publication):
- Bournemouth and Poole College of FE
- Capital City College
- Chesterfield College
- City College Norwich
- City of Liverpool College
- City of Portsmouth College
- City of Wolverhampton College
- Hugh Baird College
- Isle of Wight College
- Loughborough College Group
- Morley College
- SK College Group
- South & City College Birmingham
- South Bank Colleges
- Truro & Penwith College
- Windsor Forest Colleges Group
- Working Men’s College
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