Further
education staff are still intending to strike, despite today’s announcement of
£32m of extra funding for the sector.
The
Government has earmarked the money for performance-related payments of £1,000
for 130,000 lecturers and £500 for 24,000 support staff.
However,
Unison, the country’s largest education union, has said the extra money is not
enough and its members will still strike on 5 November.
Christina
McAnea, senior national officer at Unison, said: "This is not enough to
enable us to reconsider strike action. There is no guarantee that colleges will
use this extra funding to improve pay.
"The
Government has said it would support performance related payments of £500 to
24,000 support staff – but there are 85,000 support staff working in further
education. So how will colleges determine the lucky few?"
Unison
claims that the Association of Colleges has refused its offer to re-open
negotiations for a long-term pay strategy.
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