Cardinal Newman College and Blackpool Sixth Form College staff to strike this week
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National Education Union (NEU) members at 16 sixth form colleges in the North West, and 77 across England, are taking industrial action on the same day. 88.5% of members voted yes to strike action in response to what they call “an inadequate pay offer from the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), which is well below inflation”.
The NEU say sixth form college teachers have seen a 20% cut in real terms pay since 2010, and the SFCA’s offer would see most teachers receive a 5% pay award, rising to 8.9% for a small minority.
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Hide AdUnion members are calling on the Secretary of State for Education to fully fund their pay demand of an inflation-plus rise, emphasising how sixth form college teachers are specialist practitioners, who deliver high quality academic and vocational programmes through A Level, T Level and BTEC courses.
Peter Middleman, Regional Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “The Chancellor’s latest budget statement on 17 November did nothing to address the problems with historic low-pay and under-funding in the Post-16 sector.
“Like in primary and secondary schools, dedicated professionals in sixth-form colleges, who are preparing young people for the world of further study, vocational advancement and a challenging modern economy are being rewarded for their efforts with the largest real-terms pay cut in living memory and this is something our members are simply unwilling to tolerate from a government of millionaires and billionaires. The strength of the mandate for the strike speaks volumes: enough is enough.
“If the government led by Rishi Sunak is serious about a post-Brexit and post-pandemic recovery being based on rich-knowledge and high-skills, we need to see immediate evidence that they are prepared to release significant funding in order to help save the sector and ensure current and future generations have the same choice and opportunity for study that those presiding over the sector had in their own teenage years”.