Staff at Blackburn and West Lancashire colleges strike over pay

Staff at Blackburn College are one of 19 colleges in England striking this week

Staff at two colleges in Lancashire have begun a three-day strike in a row over pay.

University and College Union (UCU) members at Blackburn College and West Lancashire College have walked out as part of national action.

The union called for pay rises in line with inflation and said members were being "pushed into poverty".

The Association of Colleges said institutions were doing "all they can" after a decade of "brutal cuts".

Staff at colleges in Burnley and Oldham, who also walked out earlier this month, are set to strike next week along with college staff in Liverpool.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said members had been left with "no other option" as they were "pushed into poverty by college bosses who refuse to raise pay to help them meet the cost of living crisis".

Staff at 29 further education (FE) colleges in England are set to strike over the next four weeks

"This strike action will continue for 10 days unless college bosses wake up to this crisis, stop dining off the goodwill of their workforce and make a serious pay offer," Ms Grady said.

College group, NCG, of which West Lancashire College is a member, said it understood financial pressures and had offered "immediate support".

"Our offer is a 3.5% increase on last year's wages, made up of a 2.5% increase this year and a 1% increase already built in from last year's pay award," a spokeswoman said.

She said there was also an additional £500 one-off payment in October and the offer was "aligned to what we know we are able to afford".

"We continue to lobby for additional funding that will help us to reward our colleagues fairly," she added.

An Association of Colleges spokesman said institutions had faced over a decade of "brutal cuts and increased costs, made worse by the pandemic and current energy bill crisis".

He said leaders were "doing all they can" to raise wages whilst "maintaining financial security".

The Department for Education was contacted for a comment.

In October 2021, the government announced a three-year spending review outcome for 16 to 19 education, making available an extra £1.6bn in 2024 to 2025 financial year compared with 2021 to 2022.