Further education lecturers ballot for better deal

If the ballot supports industrial action, UCU's FE members in England will be asked to begin this with a strike on Thursday 24 April, 2008. The National Union of Teachers is also balloting for strike action on 24 April, in pursuit of its pay claim.

Thousands of FE lecturers, including large numbers who are part-time and hourly paid, are unable to progress to higher pay levels enjoyed by school teachers - 50% of whom receive allowances worth £2,364 to £11,557 p.a. on top of their pay scale.

Workload is another major concern. Teaching is only part of a lecturer's growing workload which includes course development, lesson preparation, marking, professional development and administration. Teaching hours vary widely, with a quarter of lecturers teaching more than 850 hours a year, a level widely considered to be excessive.

The UCU 2008-9 pay demand comes amidst growing concern amongst teaching professionals that their employers are ignoring their professional status and serving business interests at the expense of community needs.

At a recent (3 March) meeting in London, UCU members and NUT members  launched a joint campaign 'Our schools, our colleges, our communities' to draw attention to concerns about threats to the quality of local, public education from college marketisation, City Academies, threats to the professional status of educators and cuts in public services. UCU and NUT will invite other public sector unions to support the campaign.

Barry Lovejoy, head of further education at UCU, said: 'There is continuing frustration amongst lecturers about the rewards they receive for the professional job they do.

'We have seen some progress in narrowing the pay gap with school teachers, but this is being eroded by less-than-inflation pay awards. Meanwhile, 47% of colleges have still not implemented the new pay deal.

'Our claim for a 6% or £1500 pay increase for college lecturers is totally just and reasonable. It is to cope with current inflation, to recoup pay lost last year and to establish uniform national implementation of conditions. It is modest compared with the average £100,000 salary of college principals who received a rate of pay increases 50% higher than those received by lecturers in the last four years.

'Our pay claims are separate but UCU and NUT share concerns about the damage to our education system from government obsession with marketisation. The government is making colleges and schools compete with neighbouring institutions, creating insecurity. 41% of FE teaching staff are on fixed term or casual contracts.

'The college curriculum is increasingly serving narrow business skills instead of serving the whole community by empowering individuals to develop their potential.'