The six FE trade unions in England including ACM-AMiE, are launching an unprecedented joint campaign to get fair pay for all staff working in further education colleges.
The Time to Pay Up campaign calls on colleges to honour this year’s Association of Colleges (AoC) pay award of 3.2% or £550 for the lowest paid workers. The campaign also calls on colleges to implement in full the AoC harmonised pay scale, overdue since 2004. This would establish a minimum pay rate of £6.91 for further education staff.
The campaign will start next week with letters being sent to those college principals who have so far refused to honour the full award, calling on them to pay up or enter into local negotiations if they have genuine financial difficulties. Those colleges that refuse to negotiate on full implementation will be targeted in a coordinated national campaign of action by all the unions.
Trade Union side Joint Secretary & UNISON National Officer for FE Staff, Chris Fabby, said:
“The Time to Pay Up Campaign represents a nationally co-ordinated effort by six trade unions to make sure all further education staff get the salary increase they deserve this year. The campaign will also call on colleges to move staff onto nationally agreed pay scales to establish a minimum wage of £6.91 for all further education staff.
“Last year more than 40% of colleges refused to pay their lowest paid staff the agreed £500 minimum pay increase that formed part of the national pay deal. This will not be allowed to happen again. We have always been clear that where colleges face genuine financial difficulties we are prepared to sit down and negotiate, but otherwise nothing short of full implementation will do.
“The successful joint industrial action taken at Sheffield college last year shows that further education staff are willing to take industrial action in their fight for fair pay. With all six trade unions uniting in one campaign, colleges across the country need to know that they run the risk of similar action if they try to duck their responsibilities to pay staff fairly.”
Trade Union side Joint Secretary and UCU National Officer Barry Lovejoy, said:
“We are calling time on those colleges that have consistently refused without good reason to implement nationally agreed pay deals. We are confident that Monday will see UCU members from 11 colleges across the country vote in favour of industrial action against employers who have failed to implement nationally agreed pay scales. Colleges have to understand that they will no longer be allowed to pay staff significantly below agreed national rates.
“We have repeatedly made it clear that we are willing to take into account local circumstances and agree flexible ways to implement the national deal. Flexible agreements have already been made at a host of colleges with serious financial difficulties. Colleges that have failed to pay up must now agree to sit down and negotiate on full implementation or they will face coordinated action by all the further education unions across England.”
In 2003/4, a two-year national agreement was agreed with the AoC. The agreement called on colleges in England to implement a national harmonised pay scale for all college staff in England. Colleges were supposed to introduce the harmonised scale in August 2004 but over 4 years on a large number of colleges have refused to implement it. The agreement was reached following recognition from the government and employers that FE salaries were falling well behind staff in schools.
