Members in English sixth-form colleges are being consulted on a 1% pay offer for 2016/17.
This follows a final offer at a meeting between the employers and UNISON yesterday, which consists of:
- a 1% increase to all pay points on the sixth form college support staff pay spine, London weighting and fringe area allowances from 1 September 2016;
- deleting the lowest three points of the pay scale – 10, 11 and 12 – from 1 January 2017;
- a commitment joint work on reviewing the NJC support staff pay spine, with particular focus on lower pay points.
Consultation will take place in branches and colleges and the results need to be returned to UNISON Centre by Friday 13 January.
UNISON negotiators recognise that the offer does not meet all the aspirations of the union’s claim, says national officer Ben Thomas, but are recommending it as the best that can be achieved through negotiation.
Negotiators also recognised that it includes a “significant” increase for the lowest-paid staff at a time when many colleges are in financial difficulties.
Deleting the pay spine’s lowest points will leave the lowest wage at £14,778 a year or £7.66 an hour. That means an increase of 6.4% for workers on the current lowest pay at point 10.
Mr Thomas said that UNISON will use the joint review of the overall pay spine to raise concerns about the number of staff concentrated at the bottom of the scale, reasonable pay differentials that reflect differences in job size, the use of spot points and a lack of fair grading structures.
