Bosses join union in plea for cash

Further education college chiefs joined union leaders this week in calling for more government cash for pay rises for lecturers.

But lecturers' union Natfhe said the bid from principals for an extra £250 million in two years would not be enough to avert national strikes in May.

The Association of Colleges said it would demand the extra money on top of a £150 million FE teachers' pay initiative already pledged by the government.

AoC members at a consultation conference made it clear that the pay initiative was not enough.

After the conference, the AoC said low pay was discouraging experienced lecturers and inhibiting recruitment. Natfhe leaders said that while an extra £250 million in two years might help meet the union's call for FE pay to be brought up to school-teacher levels, it would not satisfy its demands for a flat-rate £3,000 rise for all full-time lecturers.

The union has given college heads until the end of this month to come up with an adequate pay settlement or face escalating strike action, beginning on May 1.

Paul Mackney, Natfhe's general secretary, said the government's announcement last week of a £3,000 pay rise for new school teachers had been the last straw for FE lecturers who had seen their pay steadily fall behind their peers in schools.

Interim findings from a government-backed review of FE staffing and pay reveal that just over 40 per cent of colleges surveyed were using national pay scales. The relatively high pay of school teachers was cited by more than 70 per cent of colleges as a cause of recruitment difficulties.