UCU Congress: Pooled votes backed for next teacher strike

FE lecturers have backed a national strike ballot strategy that could help the University and College Union stage more walkouts across England’s colleges.

Delegates at its annual congress in Harrogate voted today to pursue an aggregated ballot, which would pool votes across England rather than require each college branch to clear the legal turnout threshold separately.

The move marks a shift in strategy for the union after members rejected an aggregated ballot at a special FE conference in 2024, choosing instead to pursue local pay claims.

But delegates stopped short of calling for coordinated strike action before the end of October after a last-minute amendment failed.

UCU has demanded a 10 per cent or £3,000 pay rise for college teachers alongside workload cuts and binding national bargaining through its new deal for FE campaign.

Pay will continue to be a priority for the campaign after motions by Leeds City College and Bolton College to put national bargaining ahead of annual pay uplifts failed.

Seven motions related to the new deal for FE campaign were debated in a closed private session, which journalists were barred from observing. UCU refused to confirm the outcomes when asked by FE Week.

FE Week understands a motion from South Devon College UCU for an aggregated ballot for industrial action was approved.

On aggregate

Union branches are required to attract a 50 per cent turnout for a majority vote to pass.

UCU members in 32 of 68 colleges passed the turnout threshold and backed strike action last year.

But teachers at 17 colleges ultimately walked out in January, following a swathe of settled pay deals between union branches and college employers.

The move saw pay rises for teachers above the Association of Colleges’ 4 per cent pay recommendation.

The aim of an aggregated ballot is to increase the number of colleges taking part in industrial action by pooling votes nationally.

Paul Bridge, head of further education at UCU, told congress FE has a “charade” of national bargaining when the five trade unions negotiate at the National Joint Forum on pay with the Association of Colleges.

“It doesn’t deliver anything other than a recommendation that’s not fully funded,” he said.

Bridge added that UCU must “concentrate” on demanding ringfenced funding for FE pay.

“Part of what our campaign is about is establishing the flaws in the absence of a sector. It doesn’t have national bargaining, it doesn’t have national T’s and C’s. We have to create that.”

Workload demands

All five motions demanding stronger national efforts to reduce workload were approved.

Delegates called for more serious recognition of teacher stress and a campaign to define preparation for Ofsted visits as workload.

A motion launched by Novus on rebuilding prison education branches after the new prison education service contract was passed unanimously.

Bridge estimated around 300 prison educators have been made redundant since the new prison education service came into force in October.

Novus educator Maria Walker said remaining teachers were experiencing untenable workloads servicing the contract.

“It’s not about educators anymore. We have lost so much knowledge,” she said.

“We are there to fulfil the contract for the Ministry of Justice.”

Paid my dues

Members also debated UCU membership fees.

UCU’s proposed budget for 2026-27 proposes a “limited increase” in membership fees, described elsewhere in documents as a “progressive movement”.

Membership currently costs teachers up to £31.54 per month, with lower fees for lower earners.

The proposals, seen by FE Week, would increase subscriptions incrementally the more a member earns.

Those on salaries of £60,000 or more would pay 3 per cent more in monthly subscriptions, while members earning under £30,000 would see their dues cut by up to 3 per cent.

Durham University argued that “regressive” subscriptions, where higher-paid members pay a lower percentage of their salary in union subscriptions than lower-paid members, should be abolished.

But UCU Cymru demanded a standard annual membership fee reduction of at least 15 per cent to make the union more “competitively priced”.

The Durham motion passed, causing UCU Cymru’s to fall.

Internal strike

The annual congress took place against the backdrop of a continuing unresolved industrial dispute between UCU and its own staff.

Unite members who work at the teachers’ union staged an 11-day walkout in February over allegations of trade union victimisation, which UCU claimed were “categorically untrue”.

Goldsmiths University submitted a motion expressing solidarity with Unite UCU members, calling on the union to donate £20,000 to their strike fund.

Members argued to put the vote back in the order of business after it had previously been removed because of a likely breach of congress rules, which cited risks to the union’s liabilities as an employer.