Teachers at St Brendan’s Sixth Form College in Brislington are set to go on strike tomorrow (November 30) because of an ongoing dispute with the central government over pay. Staff members at the school who are members of the NEU (National Education Union) will join teachers at nearly 90 other colleges across the country in walking out over demands for an above-inflation pay increase.
The action comes in response to a government offer of a below-inflation pay increase that would see most sixth-form teachers receive a 5 per cent pay award, rising to 8.9 per cent for a minority. According to the NEU, since 2010, a decade of below-inflation pay increases now means that sixth-form college teachers, who have a different pay scale to standard secondary teachers, have seen a 20 per cent cut in real terms.
Although St Brendan's is a Catholic Sixth Form College catering to over 1,900 students aged 16 - 19 of all abilities, it welcomes students and staff from various religious backgrounds. With a wide catchment area, the school is the only specialist Sixth Form College in the Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset region. Many students travel considerable distances from rural areas to attend their classes.
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It is also the only local institution to offer A-levels and BTECs in over 60 different subjects at Level 3, describing its teachers as “experts in their field” and “highly experienced in teaching young adults.”
The National Education Union represents more than 450,000 teachers, lecturers, support staff and leaders working in maintained and independent schools and colleges across the UK. and is the UK's largest education union. Commenting on the forthcoming strike, Ian McCann, Senior Regional Officer of the NEU, explained: “Teachers working in Sixth Form Colleges have suffered real terms pay cuts for over a decade. Below inflation, pay increases are simply unacceptable to our members. Strike action is always taken with great regret, but the sentiment of NEU members is very clear: enough is enough.”
Ian will join teachers on the picket line tomorrow between 8.00 am and 9.00 am and expects a strong turnout. He explained that the union sets a high threshold for votes before industrial action is taken because it is a last resort. He hopes that as the walkout is early in the academic year, it won’t cause too many issues for pupils.
He said, “We have a large membership [at Brendan’s], so we would expect there to be a significant reduction in the teaching tomorrow. But the purpose of this action is not to disrupt students learning, which is an unfortunate and inevitable consequence; it’s to send a message to the government. If the government are going to allow massive increases in food and energy, it’s not all right at the same time to year after year after year to cut the funding to education and reduce the ability of the employer to offer a decent pay rise.”
The government has always said how important sixth-form education is. What we’re dealing with here is not huge numbers of students going onto degrees; it's much more vocational; it's about getting youngsters ready for the world of work with the qualifications they need, which has been much encouraged. Well, you can’t sustain that promise if you keep cutting the funding.
“The government must act now and start funding all education sectors properly; it should be a priority for the new Prime Minister. The government needs to value education and value educators. Our members need a fully funded above-inflation pay rise now!”
Bristol Live approached St Brendan's for comment, but the school declined to respond.
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