Thousands of college lecturers across England went on strike today in a long-running dispute over pay.
The lecturers' union Natfhe said up to 26,000 members of staff in about 220 colleges would be affected by the one-day strike, which was expected to disrupt classes for thousands of students.
The focus of the action was today's speech by the education secretary, Ruth Kelly, to the Association of Colleges' (AoC) annual conference in Birmingham. She promised to tackle the 13% funding gap between colleges and schools, which she acknowledged was resented in the sector.
But her promise of better prospects for colleges has done little to mollify lecturers. Natfhe claims there is a 10% pay gap between college lecturers and schoolteachers and the union balloted for industrial action over what officials have described as "a lowly 2.8% pay offer" for this academic year.
The head of colleges at Natfhe, Barry Lovejoy, said: "We have not only had an inadequate pay rise this year, we have also in some of our colleges not received the pay rise from last year."
He said future strikes were possible if college employers, represented by the AoC, refused to negotiate a satisfactory settlement. "Our members have demonstrated quite clearly that they will dig in for the long haul if necessary," he said.
Promising to end funding anomalies, Ms Kelly said she wanted to address the funding gap between schools and colleges. I know that many of you feel resentment about that gap. I understand that resentment. I also feel strongly that the gap is unfair. I can't solve the problem overnight, but I am determined to tackle it as rapidly as I can."
Her first steps seem designed to cut money for school sixth-forms as well as boost college funding. The Department for Education and Skills is to change the rules under which schools receive funding for sixth-form students, even if they drop out, for a whole academic year. This would narrow the gap by three points, and further cash announced in October would help reduce it by another five points.
