Students could be faced with a spring of discontent in colleges with the announcement that lecturers will be balloted for industrial action on pensions today just as the result of a previous strike ballot on pay is due.
Members of the lecturers' union Natfhe will be balloted over proposed changes to their pensions, it was announced this morning. This afternoon the result of a separate strike ballot of their further education members over pay will be announced.
If both ballots are accepted by members it could lead to a series of strikes in the lead-up to a general election, now anticipated for May.
The pensions ballot is over plans to raise the pension age for teachers and lecturers to 65 from 60. It will involve all of the union's members in further education colleges and post-1992 universities. If members support the strike proposal it will be scheduled for a month today, on April 14 and could be supported by other education unions including the National Union of Teachers.
The Natfhe general secretary, Paul Mackney, said: "Not everyone can have the energy and health to work beyond 60. Natfhe wants lecturers and others to have choices about when to retire, not financial pressure to work until they drop.
"The pensions proposals also do not tackle the needs of women, who already experience pensions much worse than most men. The whole plan should be re-thought and national priorities reassessed."
This afternoon the results of the ballot on whether to strike over pay in further education colleges will be announced. Lecturers in colleges want the pay gap between them and teachers in sixth form centres - which they estimate to be around 10% - closed.
They have a pay deal of 3% rise for last year and this year, but are concerned that their employers are not meeting an agreement to change the current pay scales.
Natfhe's head of colleges, Barry Lovejoy, said: "We have done what we can over the last three or four months to seek agreements with colleges and yet some six months after it should have been in place, we find that a majority of colleges are still not implementing the deal.
He added: "This month's strike is just the first round. Other colleges are likely to join in further action over the next few months. It may be a rough, tough battle - but lecturers' patience has run out."
If a strike is called most colleges in England would be shut down on Thursday, February 24, with a further handful walking out on Tuesday, March 1 and two more days of strike action likely in March.
Last week the Association of Colleges, which represents FE colleges, also held a demonstration calling for the funding gap between schools and colleges to be closed.
