Strike action has been confirmed at Oldham College starting from tomorrow, Tuesday.
Staff at Oldham, City of Liverpool, and Burnley colleges will begin three consecutive days of strike action in a dispute over low pay, the University and College Union has confirmed.
Workers will strike on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week.
Employees at the colleges will be on picket lines every morning of strike action.
Staff at Manchester, Oldham and Burnley colleges have already taken two days of strike action this term over low pay, while staff at Blackburn and West Lancashire colleges were on strike for three days last week.
The strikes amount to the biggest wave of industrial action ever to hit English colleges with around 4,000 staff on strike and tens of thousands of students being impacted.
The union is demanding employers make pay offers that reflect the rising cost of living.
According to the UCU, pay in further education has fallen behind inflation by 35 per cent since 2009, with the pay gap between school and college teachers at around £9,000.
In June, employer representative the Association of Colleges made a pay recommendation of 2.5 per cent.
However, the UCU rejected this as it is below inflation.
This summer UCU produced a report showing that most college staff are financially insecure, impacting the mental health of more than eight in 10 with many being forced to skip meals and restrict hot water use to save money.
Seven in 10 said they will leave the sector unless pay and working conditions improve.
UCU regional official Martyn Moss said: “Further education staff are taking unprecedented levels of strike action because they have no other choice. Twelve years of real-term wage cuts have left them ill-prepared for the cost of living crisis and they urgently need a pay rise.
“Where employers make serious offers that meaningfully raise pay we will put them to our members. The money is there to make fair pay offers and employers need to do so, otherwise they will see continued disruption.”
Staff at Blackburn and West Lancashire colleges are also set to strike over low pay from Thursday, October 6 alongside 24 other colleges across England.
The full strike dates for these colleges are: Thursday, October 6; Friday, October 7; Monday, October 10; Tuesday, October 11; Tuesday, October 18; Wednesday, October 19; and Thursday, October 20.
Staff at The Manchester College will also take three consecutive days of strike action from Tuesday, October 11.
Oldham College was approached for a comment.
List of other colleges set to strike from Thursday, October 6
- Bath College
- Bridgwater and Taunton College
- Carlisle College
- Chichester College
- City College Plymouth
- City of Bristol College
- Crawley College
- Derby College
- Epping Forest College
- Hackney College
- Halesowen College
- Lambeth College
- Lewisham College
- New College Swindon
- Newcastle College (including Newcastle sixth form)
- Redbridge College
- Sandwell College of FHE
- Southwark College
- Strode College
- Tower Hamlets College
- Truro & Penwith College
- Weston College
- Wiltshire College
- Yeovil College
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here