Staff at 68 colleges will ballot on whether to strike over demands for a “serious” pay offer, action on workloads and national pay bargaining.
The ballot, which will run from October 13 to November 17, follows the Association of College’s non-binding recommended pay award of 4 per cent.
The University and College Union (UCU) calls this recommendation “disappointing” and alongside other education unions, has launched its “A New Deal for FE” campaign which demands a 10 per cent or £3,000 pay rise, whichever is higher.
Unions are also calling for pay parity with schoolteachers within three years, a minimum starting salary of £30,000, and a return to national bargaining.
But Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes said the 4 per cent recommendation is “strong” and warned that colleges cannot meet the 10 per cent pay claim under current “funding constraints”.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “It is unacceptable that following years of pay degradation, college staff are expected to stomach further real-terms pay cuts, while at the same time dealing with ever-higher workloads.
“The prime minister said this week that Labour wants to put further education on an equal footing with higher education, but this will be impossible unless the government tackles the issues causing half of college teachers to leave the sector within three years.
“Our demands are reasonable. If they are not met, the sector will face serious disruption in the coming months’”.
Last week, the UCU said it wrote to 76 college principals to outline its demands ahead of confirming a formal ballot.
This total has decreased as active negotiations on pay and conditions are ongoing between UCU branches and college leaders, FE Week understands.
Hughes told FE Week: “The unions know that colleges cannot meet that 10 per cent pay claim given the funding constraints they are under.
“In our national negotiations, we clearly set out the financial position of colleges, alongside the ambition of every college leader to do the best they can on pay.
“Our 4 per cent recommendation is a strong one and I would hope that college staff would see the enormous strides colleges are taking to achieve that, even though we all know it is not enough to ensure that college pay is fair. The reality is that we need the government to invest more in colleges.
“We will continue to work hard to ensure that the strong backing from the prime minister this week in Liverpool leads to a fully-funded, long-term solution to address pay and workforce challenges across the sector.”
News of the ballot comes days after prime minister Sir Keir Starmer told the Labour conference he will make it a “defining mission of this Labour government” to no longer ignore further education.
This includes a promise to pump “nearly £800 million” extra funding into 16 to 19 education next year.
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
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