Staff to strike at North East college group open day

On Thursday 16 May staff will picket the open day at Redcar and Cleveland College campus and on Wednesday 22 May they will picket Stockton and Riverside College campus. 

The strike action is the latest escalation after staff rejected employer Education Training Collective's (ETC) most recent offer. This did not include any improvement on pay and was limited to an extra two "wellbeing days" and additional points on the lecturer and course leader pay scales starting on Thursday 1 August 2024. ETC's position on pay remains that it wants staff to accept a paltry increase of just 3% for 22/23, with an additional 1% from May 2023. 

ETC, which runs Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training Group, Stockton Riverside College, The Skills Academy, and Redcar and Cleveland College, has over £6 million in the bank, and in 2022, over £300k went to college principals. 

UCU regional support official Chris Robinson said: 'A crucial college open day will face disruption later this month unless management makes begins negotiating. Despite staff already taking eight days of action and renewing their mandate with an increased turnout and majority, management have once again failed to put a serious offer on the table. If it does not commit to serious negotiations, with a view to resolving this dispute, it can expect further disruption beyond these two days and into the next academic year.'