FE Staff In England Could See 3.2% Pay Rise

FE staff in England look set to receive a 3.2% pay rise if the deal is ratified by the Association of Colleges (AoC) and the six unions on the National Joint Forum. Previously the AoC had offered just 2.5% in line with other public sector pay deals. However, further rounds of negotiations resulted in the latest figure being tabled. The deal, if agreed, would run from 1st October 2008 for 10 months; and would be underpinned by a minimum £550 increase.

Peter Pendle, ACM General Secretary said, “We think that this is a very reasonable offer in the financial circumstances faced by many colleges. It is certainly better than that achieved almost anywhere else across the public sector and will go further towards narrowing the pay gap between colleges and schools. We will be encouraging members to support acceptance of the offer and hope that sister unions will be doing the same. As always, once the deal is finalised the focus will shift towards encouraging all colleges to implement the settlement in full”

ACM will now consult branches in England to see if members accept a 3.2% pay rise.

FE Unions Reject Latest Offer

Negotiators from the six further education trade unions, ACM, ATL, GMB, UCU, Unison & Unite representing 250,000 staff in England have rejected an offer from the employers’ organisation, the Association of Colleges. The offer included no new money for workers, as it would come into effect for only ten months of the year. It also provided no underpinning for the lowest paid staff.

Joint Trade Union Side Secretary and UNISON National Officer, Chris Fabby said:

“Further Education staff working in community colleges across the country are crucial to ensuring wider participation in education, and it is time their pay reflected this. The AOC talk about affordability, but this works both ways. Our members are struggling to put food on their tables and to heat their homes. With inflation running at over 4%, this offer goes nowhere near close enough to helping them.

“The Association of Colleges needs to be very careful. If they do not come back with a more realistic offer they run the risk of sleepwalking into a national dispute. This deal included no new money on the table for our members, and we reject outright efforts to undermine single table bargaining.”

£81 Million To Prepare Diploma Teachers

As some members will have seen, Schools Minister Jim Knight has announced £81 million of additional funding to prepare teachers to deliver the new Diploma.

The multi-million pound package for 2008-09 follows funding to train those who will be delivering the Diploma this September. The government’s aim is to ensure teachers and leaders in secondary schools and colleges are fully trained to teach the qualification as it continues to be rolled out to more secondary schools and colleges.

Diplomas are being offered for the first time this September in a small group of schools and colleges but will eventually be available across the country. Higher level Diplomas will be worth up to three and a half A Levels.

Jim Knight said, “The success of the changes will be down to how they are delivered and presented to young people. This can only be done by teachers on the ground and we are relying on them to make this work. That is why today I’m announcing £81m to help prepare teachers for the new Diploma.

“It is vital that the workforce is ready for the changes we are making to how children learn and the options they have after the age of 14. We shouldn’t be in any doubt that these changes are huge. Young people will have an unprecedented range of options available to them as they move towards university, college or on the job training. It is a major stepping stone in preparing for the new participation age of 18, which begins in 2015.

“Diplomas are supported by industry and over 100 universities and I believe they are exactly what is needed to enthuse those young people who feel that more traditional qualifications are not for them.”

Big Jump In Numbers Working Long Hours

An extra 180,000 people across the UK are working more than 48 hours a week in 2008, according to a TUC analysis of official statistics released today (Friday).

The analysis, included in the new TUC report – The Return of the Long Hours Culture – has found that the number of people working long hours has increased at a faster rate over the last year than the decline in excessive working between 1998 and 2006.

In the first quarter of 2008, the total number of people working long hours increased by 0.5 percentage points (180,000 people) to 3.3 million. The sharpest increases in long hours working occurred in the East of England (up 2.1 percentage points) and London (up 2 percentage points). Between 1998 and 2006, the number of people working more than 48 hours was reduced by 3.7 percentage points (707,000) from 3.8 million to 3.1 million.

The TUC report argues that the recent increase in the number of people working long hours is due to the challenging economic climate, which has made employers more reluctant to recruit new staff and instead work existing employees harder.

The analysis also finds that 85 per cent of new long hours workers are male. The TUC believes that this trend, in which senior jobs are increasingly reliant on long hours, could hamper efforts to close the pay gap, as women with childcare responsibilities are likely to be excluded from these roles.

In order to reverse the growth of long hours working, the TUC is calling for a stronger the Working Time Directive (WTD) to protect employees. Since its implementation in 1998, the WTD has helped to reduce excessive long hours, although the UK’s opt-out has meant that this progress, in the TUC’s view, has been too slow.

The TUC is calling on the Government to back proposals to strengthen the WTD, when employment ministers from the across Europe discuss the Directive at the EU Social Affairs Council meeting on 9 and 10 June.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “After slow but steady progress over the last decade, long hours working is making its way back into Britain’s workplaces. Employees across the UK already work the longest hours in Western Europe and the recent increase will mean lower productivity, more stress and less time to have a life outside the office with friends and family.’

“When the Government meets with other European Ministers next week, it should side with Britain’s 25 million workers and take action to end excessive working time, rather than side with the business lobbyists who act as apologists for Britain’s long hours culture.”

ACM’s own survey of members carried out towards the end of last year found that two out of three regularly worked in excess of 48 hours per week.