Teachers and Lecturers in row over pay

Schoolteachers and College lecturers will unite in a strike on Thursday 24 April in an effort to be awarded a higher rate of pay.

The strike will be their first national stoppage for more than 20years and whilst the government argues it will only disrupt children’s education, the National Union of teachers believes that it is necessary to make their point heard.

The NUT will be asking for a rise of just over 4% as this amount will match the current rate of the retail price index. The government have offered 2.45% which they don’t feel stretches to anywhere near enough. Teachers in England and Wales earn, at graduate starting pay £20, 627, the argument is should it be this low if they wish to attract more graduates into the teaching profession?

The UCU who are representatives of FE colleges have submitted a request for a 6% increase as they earn less than schoolteachers at the moment. Another concern of lecturers is the staggering amount of hours they work, some teach over 850 hours a year and this strain is now being felt.

A quarter of NUT members are out on strike but it is difficult to work out how many schools will have to close on the day as each school has to decided themselves whether they will have a large enough proportion of staff to remain open.

However, trade unionists argue that the number of people that will be affected by the strike will be of a relatively small number though this will not make the strike any less significant. Some will be volunteering for picket line duty, though most just simply won’t turn in for work.

According to a memorandum which is being sent round at FE colleges, lecturers will ‘require appropriate evidence to be produced of the reason for the absence’ and a ‘deduction of 1/261 annual salary will be taken form May’s pay’.

According to Gene Stoddart, senior lecturer with the role of advanced practitioner at South Trafford College, the new wage the government has proposed is below what they perceive to be the rate of inflation. They would effectively be earning below the cost of living and would technically be receiving a pay cut.

Although the picket line is set to be a non-violent protest, some lecturers are feeling quite militant. This is not just over the pay row but over the resentment felt over schoolteachers earning more than FE staff.

The general secretary of the UCU feels that “The considerable difference in the average pay of lecturers and teachers doing the same work is grossly unfair.” Which Gene Stoddart agrees with entirely “It’s completely iniquitous that people are expected to pass on valuable skills to younger generations when the skills that they have are undervalued.”

College lecturers say that schoolteachers have more power as children in secondary education would have to have childcare arranged on the day of the strike which college students obviously wouldn’t need. Gene highlights why the day will be so extraordinary “Public sector workers are showing solidarity which is a rare thing to happen with unions, we’re piggybacking with people with power”.

But how do they feel this will affect pupils on the day? The strike will not only affect the typical students in the day but also those who attend night classes. Some are expected to ask for their money back as they have paid for a night class that will have to be cancelled but most are expected to be understanding to their situation.


The students seem to hold a different viewpoint entirely though Craig Dalton, a 16 year old student from Manchester believes that “It’s stupid, the teachers who teach out of text books don’t deserve more money but the ones that help you and set work that actually needs to be done, they deserve it.”

There are talks of teaching in FE colleges being set to be far more highly regulated. Every teacher will be ensured to have a proper teaching qualification, either a Certificate of Education or a PGCE. This will be a huge boon to the FE workforce believes Gene “If this was to happen then we will have real power to say ‘Pay us what were worth!’”