Update from yesterday's meeting with the Association of Colleges

• On pay, the AoC increased its proposed 2022-23 recommendation from a 2.25% consolidated pay offer to 2.5% plus a non consolidated, i.e. one-off payment of £500 for each staff member (or £750 for those earning under £20,000). 
• On workload, the AoC proposed to form a joint working party which would be tasked with developing sector-wide guidelines on workload by April 2023. 

Our negotiators have concluded that while the improvements on pay are welcome, they are not nearly good enough to consider putting the offer to our membership or calling off the industrial action ballots currently underway in many UCU branches.

As I said in my previous email, a number of employers have already offered significantly more than the AoC recommendation and as the employers' representative body, they need to set the bar a lot higher. 

As for workload, on the same day that our staff survey has reported extreme and intensifying workload issues throughout the sector, a working group with no promise of concrete actions or binding policies is a long way from anything which our negotiators might be able to recommend to members. 

We will continue to meet with the AoC but yesterday's meeting confirmed what we have been saying for weeks: this campaign is going to be won by you and thousands of other members taking action to force better offers from employers. 

If yours is one of the branches currently balloting over pay and related issues, today would be the perfect day to post your vote back in the pre-paid envelope. 

And members throughout the sector, in every branch - you can show the AoC what you think of their 'offer' by signing our Respect FE charter today. 

In solidarity, 

Jo Grady 
UCU general secretary