January, 2019:

Further Education Pay Dispute 29 and 30 January – South West Region

FE staff in England are getting a raw deal from their employers. Workloads have never been higher while average pay packets have shrunk and the latest kick in the teeth – the recommended 1% pay rise for 2017-18 – has not even been implemented in over 40% of colleges. Three FE branches in the South West have already taken strike action Petroc, New College Swindon and Bath College. Now,  Abingdon and Witney and Bridgwater and Taunton College are joining them for a further two days strike action.  All five of these branches need your help and support. Please circulate these details widely, visit the picket and send emails of support. The TinyURL for this post is https://tinyurl.com/ucufab5

Abingdon and Witney College

Picket location: Abingdon Campus, Wootton Rd, Abingdon OX14 1GG (7:30 – 15:00)

Picket location: Witney Campus, Holloway Road, Witney OX28 6NE (7:30 – 15:00)

There will be a rally at Witney on Tuesday lunchtime (12.30 – 1.30), and at Abingdon on Wednesday lunchtime. (12.30 – 1.30)

For further information please contact Regional Official, Nick Varney NVarney@UCU.ORG.UK

Bridgwater and Taunton College

Picket Location: Bath Rd, Bridgwater TA6 4PZ
7:30am – 12:30 both days
Picket Location: Wellington Road, Taunton, TA1 5AX
7:30am – 12:30 both days
Picket Location: Rodway Hill, Cannington, Bridgwater, TA5 2LS
7:30am – 12:30 both days

For further information please contact Regional Support Official, Philippa Davey PDavey@UCU.ORG.UK

Petroc College

Picket Location: Old Sticklepath Hill, Barnstaple, EX31 2BQ
7:30am – 12:30 both days

For further information please contact Regional Support Official, Catriona Scott cscott@ucu.org.uk

New College Swindon

Picket location: New College Dr, Swindon SN3 1AH
8:00am – 13:00pm both days

For further information please contact Regional Official, Nick Varney NVarney@UCU.ORG.UK

Bath College

Picket Location: City centre campus in Bath College, Avon Street, Bath, BA1 1UP
8:00am – 13:00pm both days

For further information please contact Regional Support Official, Catriona Scott cscott@ucu.org.uk

The University College Union (UCU) recently reballoted Further Education (FE) branches who had come very close to the mandated 50% turnout but did not achieve it. Again, the ballot was very close to breaking through the threshold of 50% in most institutions .  The turnout was one of the biggest in our history and it is only anti-union legislation that is stopping the action that the vast majority of members that voted clearly want to take.

Now, in the extended SW region Abingdon and Witney plus Bridgwater and Taunton College will be joining Petroc, Bath College and Swindon New College in further strike action strike action on January 29 and 30^th.

For some officers and members this will be their first strike action and it impossible to overestimate how much messages from other branches mean to those in the vanguard of what is an all FE sector dispute.

Please send messages of support to those branches and do all you can to organise supporting activity on the days of the strike e.g. joining picket lines/lunchtime protests/contacting local MPs/ sending photos of your members supporting the action etc., etc., etc.

The contact details below of the senior branch officers at the striking branches are listed below:

More information on this pay dispute can be accessed on the UCU website at https://www.ucu.org.uk/FEfightsback