The joint trade union negotiations have ended on an all-Wales further education contract, and a final version of the contract is ready to be balloted on.
The ballot on the contract is open between Monday 11 November and 12 noon on Friday 29 November. Members should already be beginning to receive their ballot papers through the post.
Simon Dunn, UNISON Cymru/Wales further education lead, said:
“UNISON, along with the other trade unions, is recommending acceptance of the contract.
“We have produced a contract which is the best that can be achieved through negotiation without reverting to industrial action to improve the offer. The new contract will provide a basis to move forward and address the equality agenda in Welsh further education.
“This contract will present many of our members with real gains, in respect of increased annual leave and the provision of a living wage. It will also provide greater protection against individual colleges seeking savings from our members’ terms and conditions.
“So there are a number of good reasons to vote ‘yes’.”
Please note, the protection arrangement detailed in the implementation agreement would allow members to remain on their current contract until August 2016. It would also allow colleges to delay implementation until this same date. Subject to the ballot outcome, the new contract would apply to all further education staff from September 2016.
Due to the size of the documents, only a summary of the contract and its implications have been included with the ballot form, but all the information you need to take a decision is available to download from this page using the links below.
Further education Wales ballot commentary
Further education all Wales contract implementation agreement
Further education ballot lecturer workload allocation scheme
FE ballot version – A management salaries full-time permanent
FE ballot version – B management spine salaried fractional permanent
FE ballot version – C lecturer salaried full-time permanent
FE ballot version – D lecturer salaried fractional permanent
FE ballot version – E lecturer part-time hourly paid permanent
FE ballot version – F business support salaried full-time permanent
FE ballot version – G business support salaried fractional permanent
FE ballot version – H business support salaried term time full time and permanent
FE ballot version – I business support salaried term time fractional and permanent
FE ballot version – J business support part-time hourly paid permanent
