UNISON FE members narrowly accept offer

UNISON members in English further education (FE) colleges have narrowly voted to accept the Association of Colleges’ (AoC) pay offer while the UCU lecturers’ union has announced that it is preparing to ballot members on it.

A UNISON consultation saw members vote by 53% to 47% to accept the employer’s final offer of 0.2% or £50, whichever is the greater (see Workplace Report July 2010 page 4).

UNISON described the 0.2% pay offer as both an unfair and unreasonable response by employers to the commitment and dedication of FE staff. For employees on the minimum FE rate of pay the AoC offer means a pay award of less than 3p an hour. The union’s statement on the pay offer concluded that “the very narrow acceptance of this pay offer should … be seen by government and employers as a warning”.

The UCU’s further education committee has backed the decision by delegates at a recent special pay conference to ballot as soon as possible over the offer. The ballot is expected to take place in late November or early December.

The other recognised further education unions — ATL, ACM, Unite and GMB — are also completing consultations on the offer.