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Further education union votes for strike action

Robbie Meredith
BBC News NI education correspondent
PA Media A group of people striking. One man is wearing a purple top that says UCU, University and College Union, in white. He is wearing a pink hat that says UCU. Another two men are wearing pink hats, grey coats and yellow and grey high-vis vests. Another women is wearing a black jacket, yellow jumper and red hat. There are placards being held that say Official Picket in pink on a white background. There are black lines at the top and bottom of the placards that say UCU in white.PA Media
Members of the University and College Union at a previous strike.

Further education (FE) lecturers in one of Northern Ireland's main unions have voted for strike action.

Lecturers represented by the University and College Union (UCU) voted in favour of strikes and action short of strike over pay.

The union had claimed its members had been "sold a pup" over a pay deal by the college employers.

The UCU has also accused the Economy Minister, Caoimhe Archibald, of reneging on an agreement to close a "pay gap" with school teachers.

Teachers in Northern Ireland recently turned down a 5.5% pay offer for 2024/25, saying a failure to deal with increasing workloads was a key reason for rejecting the offer.

Pay for FE lecturers is negotiated separately from that of teachers, but workload has also been cited as a concern.

The results of a similar ballot for industrial action among FE members of the NASUWT union are expected on 15 April.

The NASUWT and UCU between them represent the vast majority of FE lecturers.

'Thin end of the wedge'

A woman looking towards a camera. She has blonde hair and glasses that have a black trim.
Katharine Clarke is the union's Northern Ireland Official

There are six FE colleges in Northern Ireland with more than 63,000 students.

They teach a large range of vocational and academic subjects to a wide variety of students, and are a major part of the education system.

Around half of UCU members in FE colleges voted in the ballot, with 90% voting in favour of strike action and over 98% voting for action short of strike.

No dates for any strike action have been confirmed by the union as yet though.

The UCU claimed that Archibald had reduced the baseline budget to FE colleges by 7.9% and told college employers they must find £18m of efficiency savings.

In a statement, the union's Northern Ireland Official, Katharine Clarke, said it was "disappointing and shocking that within weeks of taking up office Minister Archibald has ripped up a government approved pay agreement.

"While Minister Givan has secured a pay increase for schoolteachers of 5.5% the Economy Minister has effectively told college employers that a pay increase for lecturers must be financed via the redundancies of their colleagues," she said.

"Minister Archibald talks about 'good jobs' and skills driving the economy, yet she is treating the biggest section of workers under her portfolio as the poor relations of the education sector, both in terms of pay, and conditions of service.

"Our members will not accept the thin end of the wedge."

The UCU's General Secretary Jo Grady said there was "imminent and real danger that thousands of qualifications will not be issued, and students will be unable to graduate."

The Department for the Economy has been contacted for a response.