College staff to be balloted over pay and workloads

The University and College Union (UCU) will ballot about 10,000 staff at 68 colleges across England this month in a dispute over pay, workloads and national bargaining.

The ballots will open on 13 October and close on 17 November.

The move follows a recommendation from the Association of Colleges (AoC) for a 4% pay award. The employer body acknowledged, however, that many colleges would be unable to afford the rise and that there was no obligation for them to implement it.

UCU, alongside the National Education Union (NEU), GMB, Unison and Unite, is calling for what it described as a New Deal for further education, including a 10% or £3,000 pay increase, national workload agreements and a binding national bargaining framework.

The union said leaders now had “a clear choice” between making a serious offer or facing possible industrial action later this year.

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.” 

She added: “Further education staff are the beating heart of our communities and transform the life chances of hundreds of thousands of students every year. They shouldn’t be forced to ballot for industrial action just to get decent pay and conditions. Staff, students and local communities deserve better. 

“Colleges must pay our members fairly and ensure manageable workloads. These changes must be underpinned by a new national collective bargaining structure for the sector. Our demands are reasonable. If they are not met, the sector will face serious disruption in the coming months.”