College staff in Royal Borough and Slough to strike over pay and working conditions

College staff in Maidenhead, Slough and Windsor are set to strike from tomorrow (Wednesday) amid a dispute with their employer over pay and working conditions.

Picket lines will be set up at Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA), Slough and Langley College, and Windsor College as part of a co-ordinated three days of action in Berkshire.

University and College Union (UCU) announced the walkout would take place alongside wider action over contractual disparities between college staff and school teachers this week.

Windsor Forest Colleges Group, which runs the three facilities, said measures to manage pupils’ disruption and maintain ‘essential operations’ at its sites had been put in place.

The group said the strike action was related to ‘broad, sector-wide issues impacting further education nationally’.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said staff had been ‘left with no choice’ but to take industrial action and Windsor Forest Colleges Group needed to ‘make a fair offer’.

Demonstrations will be held outside Slough and Langley College every morning over the three-day walkout, while picket lines will also be set up at BCA and Windsor College on separate days.

UCU said staff at Windsor Forest Colleges Group had had been offered a ‘derisory’ pay rise of 0.7 per cent, which was raised to 1.7 per cent following negotiations.  

The union said a £250 payment to staff earning below £30,250 had also been suggested.

Ms Grady said: “Industrial action is last resort for our members, but staff at Windsor Forest Colleges Group have been left with no choice.

“There is still time for management to make a fair offer that helps close the pay gap between school and college teachers. 

“Our demands are reasonable, and management needs to look at those that worked to settle their disputes.

“Employers must now agree to meaningful sectoral bargaining so further education can avoid the cycle of strike ballots and disruption that we have seen over the past few years.’

Industry lobby group Association of Colleges (AoC) recommended giving staff a four per cent pay rise, UCU said, adding: ‘colleges do not have to follow it, and many have failed to do so’.

A statement continued ‘the average college teacher earns £9,000 less than their counterpart in schools’ and UCU and more unions had called for ‘pay parity’  and new ‘workload agreements’.

A statement from Windsor Forest Colleges Group said it ‘acknowledges the national industrial action from the University and College Union’ this week.

The statement continued: “This action relates to broad, sector-wide issues impacting further education nationally. Our primary focus is on our students.

“We have activated measures to maintain essential operations, ensure student safety, and minimise any disruption to learning and assessment during these dates.

 “We have communicated our specific on-site arrangements directly to our parents and students.”