Employers To Recommend Pay Rise

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has confirmed it will now recommend that its members in England implement the pay offer that has been accepted by all but one of the six unions on the National Joint Forum.

The pay rise is for 2% from August 2007 and 1% from February 2008. It was accepted by ACM, ATL, Unison, Unite (TGWU) and GMB, but rejected by the UCU. The UCU decided to reject the employers offer at a special conference, despite the results of its branch consultation that showed a majority in favour of accepting. UCU are now planning a strike ballot.

A growing number of FE colleges had already implemented the pay award through local agreements, but the AoC decision opens the door for discussions on a number of other important elements of the joint trade union claim, including action on dealing with excessive working time.