January 9th, 2019:

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