The six unions representing staff in English colleges have rejected the Association of College’s (AoC) recent pay offer. At a meeting of the National Joint Forum held on 16 May, the AoC offered a 2% pay rise from 1 August 2007, and a further 0.5% in January 2008.
Commenting on the AoC offer, ACM General Secretary Peter Pendle said, “Our members will be very disappointed with this. It is less than the current rate of inflation, and falls short of our aim of parity with schools. However, we welcome the opportunity for further talks, including clarification of the AoC’s response to the other elements of our claim.”
The joint union claim called for a significant pay rise including some element of a flat rate payment to take account of low pay. Among other items it also called for starting salaries for management and leadership staff to be at least equivalent to those for leadership posts in schools (£34,938 in September 2007), and an agreement to commence negotiations on a national consensus on workloads and work-life balance.
