Sixth form teacher
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) who teach in 32 sixth form colleges in England will take part in strike action over pay on Thursday 28 November, Tuesday 3 December and Wednesday 4 December.
Academised sixth form colleges have received some funding to implement the same 5.5% pay award as announced for school teachers. However, non-academised sixth form colleges have not received the same – they will have to fund any additional pay award through existing funds.
Clearly, teachers need a pay rise, not only so their salaries keep up with inflation, but also to make up for the pay freezes and below-inflation pay rises under previous Tory governments.
Members at 40 colleges took part in the union strike ballot on a disaggregated basis (college by college), achieving a 62% turnout overall and a 97% vote in favour of action. When given a lead, teachers are determined and ready to take action to defend terms and conditions. They are prepared to strike for fully funded pay claims.
This is in stark contrast to the ‘snap poll’ that the NEU Executive Committee organised in response to the partly funded pay offer of 5.5% for teachers in schools. In that poll, the leadership recommended that members accept the offer: 95% voted in favour of acceptance, on a 41% turnout. Socialist Party members had argued to reject on the basis that it was not fully funded and not enough.
The list of 32 colleges taking part in strike action is available on the NEU website