Henley College teachers walk out over pay

TEACHERS at The Henley College went on strike yesterday (Thursday) in a row over pay.

Dozens of members of the National Education Union were expected to join a picket line outside the gates, off Deanfield Road, throughout the day.

The college remained open and students had been told that they were expected to attend as usual.

In September, members of the union agreed to a 5.5 per cent pay rise for teachers in England, which included an extra £1.2 billion of funding for schools to help cover costs.

However, teachers at sixth-form colleges were not offered the same pay rise, other than those that are part of the academy system.

Kevin Jones, a physics lecturer at the college, is one of the 59 union members at the college, and he joined the strike to seek a resolution to the pay dispute.

Mr Jones, who has taught at the college for 10 years, said: “Teacher pay has been below inflation pretty much for the past 15 years, so we need to make sure that teachers are valued in their profession and that they’re able to live.

“We’re trying to make sure that teachers don’t leave the profession at the same time as we’re trying to recruit teachers to the profession. We can’t do either with low wages, so we need to make sure they get back up to what they were a few years ago before we were handed a few below inflation pay rises.

“We had to go on strike for a few days in 2022 to get a decent pay rise out of the government which was last year’s pay rise. This year’s pay rise hasn’t been agreed upon yet and that’s what we’re fighting about.

“Everyone has been trying to get them to explain why they’ve missed out on funding of a handful of colleges and there has been no response, which has forced our hand into the strike action.”

Earlier this month, union members who work in colleges voted with a 97 per cent majority in favour of strike action.

Across the country, 32 sixth-form colleges reached the ballot threshold to take strike action, with an estimated 2,200 teachers joining the picket line.

Further strikes are planned for December 3 and 4 unless an agreement is reached with the government.

Earlier this month, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, wrote to Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, seeking clarification over the pay discrepancy.

In the letter, Mr Kebede requested that the additional £300 million of funding announced for the further education sector in the budget last month would be used to address the disparity. It is understood that the union is still yet to receive a response from Mrs Phillipson.

Nick Childs, the union’s senior regional officer for the South East region, said that the government has created a two-tier pay system.

He called on the government to rectify the disparity between payments for teachers in academised and non-academised sixth-form colleges.

Mr Childs said: “The new government has rightly recognised that education funding and teacher pay have been eroded for years and that this has led to a crisis in teacher retention, larger class sizes and fewer resources for students.

“The colleges in the South East taking action are seven of 40 sixth-form colleges who have been disadvantaged. They’ve abdicated and refused to give an assurance that sixth-form teachers will also get it, they’ve not confirmed it.

“They are refusing to say whether it’s going to happen and they’re refusing to negotiate any further so effectively it’s a no, but we’ve not received confirmation that pay rise and funding will be received.”

A spokeswoman for The Henley College said its “primary focus” was the education and wellbeing of its students and that students were being told to attend their lessons as usual.

She said: “We are making every effort to minimise any disruption and will keep our community informed of any changes.

“We respect the right of individuals to voice their concerns and hope that an amicable resolution can be reached through dialogue.”

The Sixth Form Colleges Association has also launched a judicial review into the decision to differentiate pay between teachers in different types of colleges.