College staff pass no confidence vote in CEO

Staff at five colleges have passed a vote of no confidence in a CEO in a long-running dispute over pay.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) working at colleges which are part of Education Training Collective (ETC) on Teesside, voted to say they had lost confidence in the group's CEO Grant Glendinning.

The UCU said it had "no choice" but to move to a no confidence vote because of a "breakdown in industrial relations".

The ETC said it was "frustrating" an agreement had not been reached and that it had "full confidence" in the way the senior leadership team had managed college finances.

The vote comes after staff took strike action in May, with walkouts previously held over eight days.

UCU regional support official, Chris Robinson said it was "unfortunate" industrial relations "had been degraded to such an extent" that union members felt they had no option but to move to a motion of no confidence.

"UCU now calls on the ETC governors to step in, show leadership and help prevent any further industrial action being taken," Mr Robinson added.

The dispute is over pay offers for the 2022-23 academic year, which union members branded as "paltry".

A further offer, which proposed pay scale changes for support staff, was rejected by union members.

The ETC said wages had risen by 10.5% over two years, including a 3% pay increase from August 2022, an additional 1% from May 2023, and a 6.5% increase for 2023/24.

Stuart Blackett, chair of the ETC board of governors, said: "As a publicly-funded college group, there is nowhere else to go to meet the demands of the union.

"Funds simply do not exist and nor will they unless there is a change to the way further education is funded."

He added that UCU members who had voted in favour of the most recent strike action accounted for less than 5% of the workforce.

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