Northern Ireland strikes: Unions reject 'derisory' pay offer for lecturers

The dispute between the FE unions and employers over pay has been long-running (picture from February strike action)

Unions representing further education (FE) lecturers in Northern Ireland have rejected what they called a derisory pay offer.

The UCU and NASUWT said their members had been offered 1% for 2021-22 and 1% for 2022-23.

They said that an additional offer of a one-off payment to staff was not the same as an annual pay deal.

The Department for the Economy (DfE) has been contacted by BBC News NI for comment.

The UCU claimed that "the position lecturer staff find themselves in is a direct consequence of having no government".

The unions also claimed that a previous offer of 2% for 2021-22 had been blocked by the department.

The NASUWT also said the further education college employers were "in cloud cuckoo land" if they thought lecturers would accept the offer.

Lecturers in FE belonging to the NASUWT are due to take part in a widespread education strike on Wednesday.

There are six further education colleges in Northern Ireland with over 50,000 students studying hundreds of courses.

The UCU and NASUWT represent the vast majority of FE lecturing staff.

The starting salary for a full-time FE lecturer in Northern Ireland is about £24,000 a year, although some staff work part-time or are paid on an hourly basis.

But, as with teachers, there has been recent stalemate over a pay deal for FE lecturers in Northern Ireland.

Justin McCamphill, from NASUWT, said the latest pay offer was derisory

The unions negotiate pay with the six FE college chief executives - the employers - but any pay deal then has to be approved by Department for the Economy.

In a letter to the FE employers seen by BBC News NI, the UCU's Northern Ireland official Katharine Clarke said the latest pay offer was "derisory and must be rejected".

In a separate message to UCU members, Ms Clarke gave more details of the offer.

She claimed that a previous offer of a 2% increase for 2021/22 made by the employers had been blocked by the department.

She continued that the employers had subsequently offered lecturers a rise of 1% for 2021/22 and another 1% for 2022/23.

However, the employers had also offered a one-off "non-consolidated" payment of £4,900 to each lecturer on a pro-rata basis.

Ms Clarke said that the employers did not need agreement from the unions to give "one-off" payments to staff, but they were separate from annual pay.

'Consequence of no government'

"The accepted understanding of a pay award is a permanent percentage increase on baseline salary that is consolidated and pensionable," Ms Clarke said.

"We advised the employers that if they wish to proceed making a non-consolidated payment to staff, that is a matter for them.

"The position lecturer staff find themselves in is a direct consequence of having no government.

"In the absence of political authority and oversight, permanent secretaries are emboldened to make funding decisions that otherwise would be the preserve of elected ministers."

The South West College in Enniskillen is among six further education colleges in Northern Ireland

Ms Clarke said UCU members would now escalate action short of strike by refusing to formally provide colleges with marks for student work.

"Assessment and feedback to students will continue but marks will not be entered onto college systems or provided to awarding bodies," she said.

The NASUWT's Justin McCamphill also told BBC News NI that the latest pay offer was "derisory".

'Cloud cuckoo land'

"Lecturers were offered 2% for 2021-22 and have now been told that this is unaffordable," he said.

"The employers are in cloud cuckoo land if they think lecturers are prepared to accept a lower offer.

"Lecturer pay is now a long way behind schoolteacher pay.

"Our members have had enough and the strike action called for this Wednesday will go ahead as planned."

The department has previously told colleges and universities they could face funding cuts of almost 20% in 2023/24.

On Sunday, the former head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Sir David Sterling, warned that the level of cuts that may be required by Stormont departments in the forthcoming budget are "undeliverable".