Staff at five college organisations are going on strike today as part of an ongoing dispute between the University and College Union (UCU) and the Association of Colleges (AoC) over pay and conditions.
Workers are staging a three-day walkout at four college organisations - incorporating six college sites - ending this Thursday.
Those affected are the Capital City College Group (City and Islington College, College of Haringey Enfield and North East London, Westminster Kingsway College), Croydon College, Lambeth College and Sandwell College.
Staff at Havering College are staging a two-day strike, which ends tomorrow.
The industrial action is the result of union members rejecting a 1 per cent pay offer from the AoC.
Staff in further education colleges in England have suffered a real-terms pay cut of 24 per cent since 2009, due to wages falling behind inflation, according to the UCU.
College staff have fared even worse than public sector employees in general, who have seen a real-terms drop in wages of 21 per cent during this time.
Threat of further industrial action
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: “UCU members are striking in defence of their pay and conditions. Strike action is a last resort, but staff feel they have been left with no alternative.
“The colleges urgently need to address members’ concerns or face further industrial action.”
An AoC spokesperson said: “There is no clear mandate for this strike action. Only 11 out of 206 colleges were balloted, and only five are taking industrial action. It is disappointing that UCU is continuing with a strike that is only impacting students, not the government whose chronic underfunding of further education has led to a situation where colleges are unable to offer their staff a pay rise which keeps pace with inflation.”
They pledged: “We will continue to pressure government to properly recognise the value of the workforce, and will continue the constructive dialogue taking place between AoC, colleges and UCU.”
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