Members working in English further education colleges have voted to accept the employers’ pay offer.
A consultation of members in 43 colleges saw 54% vote to accept the final offer from the Association of Colleges (AoC), with 46% voting to reject.
The offer involved deleting the bottom point (SCP4) of the AoC’s harmonised pay scale and increasing the next point (SCP5) by 2%, bringing the hourly rate to £7.65, the current living wage rate.
This is equivalent to an increase of £288.42 a year.
The offer also included a 1% consolidated pay rise for all salary points above SCP5.
UNISON’s national colleges committee said that it appreciiated the extra protection for staff at the bottom of the pay scale, but expressed concern at the continuing fall in living stndards.
There are also plans for unions and management to work jointly toward implementing the living wage in higher education.
The next meeting of the committee on 8 October will look at the consultation reponse in details and consider how to build organisation and strength in the sector.