Teachers at 32 further education colleges have voted to strike following the University and College Union (UCU)’s England-wide ballot over pay and workloads.
UCU members in 32 of the 68 colleges passed the required 50 per cent turnout threshold and backed strike action. The union’s further education committee will meet on Friday to sign off on next steps.
A further 17 colleges avoided strike action during the ballot window after agreeing new pay deals worth up to 8.7 per cent.
UCU said 90 per cent of their voting members supported strike action.
The ballot followed the “disappointing” 4 per cent pay rise recommendation from the Association of Colleges earlier this year.
Jo Grady, UCU general secretary said: “College staff have turned out in huge numbers to show they are willing to down tools in the fight for decent pay and decent working conditions.
“Thanks to the pressure of our strike ballots, we have also won pay deals at a further 17 colleges. Other college bosses now need to look at those institutions, make staff fair offers that help close the pay gap between school and college teachers, and avoid the disruption of strike action.”
The union’s ‘new deal for FE’ campaign includes pay parity with school teachers, a national workload agreement and binding national bargaining.
College teachers earn, on average, £9,000 less than their counterparts in schools, according to UCU.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “I am disappointed to see college staff voting for strike action, and I hope it doesn’t come to fruition as it’s the students who will suffer.
“AoC and college leaders have shown over many years now how committed they are to improving pay and conditions, as far as their funding will allow. We know, as do the unions, that any campaigning and action really needs to be directed nationally to secure commitments and investment from government to address the pay gap with schools and industry.
“That’s why we today launched our adult learning pays campaign. A campaign we hope the unions can get behind, because we need to put right the decimation of college funding we saw in the 2010s.”
Colleges where UCU members voted for strike action:
1. Abingdon & Witney College
2. Barnet & Southgate College
3. Bournemouth and Poole College of FE
4. Bradford College
5. Brockenhurst College
6. Capital City College
7. Chesterfield College
8. City College Norwich
9. City of Bristol College
10. City of Liverpool College
11. City of Portsmouth College
12. City of Wolverhampton College
13. East Sussex College Group
14. Hugh Baird College
15. Isle of Wight College
16. Kirklees College
17. Lakes College West Cumbria
18. Lancaster and Morecambe College
19. Loughborough College Group
20. Morley College
21. New College Swindon
22. Runshaw College
23. SK College Group
24. South & City College
25. South Bank Colleges
26. Stanmore College
27. The Sheffield College
28. Truro & Penwith College
29. Windsor Forest Colleges Group
30. Wirral Met College
31. WM College
32. York College
Colleges securing pay deals during the ballot window:
1. Bath College
2. Bishop Auckland College
3. Bolton College
4. Bury College
5. Cambridge Regional College
6. Chichester College Group
7. Coastland College
8. Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College
9. East Lancashire Learning Group
10. Gateshead College
11. Hopwood Hall College
12. Milton Keynes College
13. Petroc
14. South Gloucestershire & Stroud College
15. Stoke on Trent College
16. UCS College Group
17. Vision West Nottinghamshire College
Your thoughts