Sixth-form teachers strike on pay

As this week’s Solidarity hits the streets, teachers in the National Education Union (NEU) at 32 sixth-form colleges across England will be striking for one day on Thursday 28 November.

The strike is in response to the government’s refusal to fund the promised 5.5% pay rise for teachers in these colleges. All schoolteachers have had the 5.5% pay rise and academised sixth forms have had the pay award funded, but non-academised sixth forms have been offered no funding and thus teachers have not been offered a pay rise.

The NEU ran a disaggregated ballot, counting results separately for each of the 40 colleges in England affected. This was always too cautious. Sixth-form colleges are usually large and cohesive workplaces with a strong union culture likely to meet the 50% turnout threshold. The aggregate result was 97% yes on a 62% turnout. The eight colleges that failed to meet the turnout criterion should have been carried into action on the back of this result, helping to build confidence.

Two further strike days have been announced for Tuesday-Wednesday 3-4 December. The structure of the strikes suggests the leadership of the NEU expects the government to back down. If the government fails to do so, activists need to push to escalate to continuous action in the New Year.