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ATL to ballot sixth form college staff over pay deal
31 January 2012
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) will start balloting members working in sixth form colleges in England to take discontinuous strikes over a zero percentage pay offer for 2011/12. This follows a vote in favour of balloting by ATL's Executive Committee on Saturday (28 January).
The refusal of the Sixth Form College Forum to offer teachers and lecturers any pay rise for this academic year follows a pay rise of only 0.75 per cent for 2010/11. Teachers and lecturers working in sixth form colleges are already being paid less than their counterparts in schools.
ATL will ballot teacher and lecturer members in England in February.
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary at ATL, said: "Our sixth form members are annoyed and frustrated at the way they are being treated and said they want to be balloted to strike. We all recognise the funding constraints facing sixth form colleges, and know that school teachers are in a two-year pay freeze, but members working in colleges are being paid less than those teaching the same subjects in schools. It is a ridiculous and untenable situation. The refusal by Sixth Form College Forum to offer any pay increase risks demoralising staff and will lead to problems retaining and recruiting staff.
"ATL members are realistic, they are not asking for the moon, but they do expect to be treated fairly."
Any strike action would be co-ordinated with action taken by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Association of Schoolmasters / Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).
Notes to editors
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, headteachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained and independent nurseries, schools, sixth form, tertiary and further education colleges in the United Kingdom.
ATL exists to help members, as their careers develop, through first rate research, advice, information and legal advice.
ATL is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). ATL is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with all the main political parties.