Sixth class teachers go on strike amid salary dispute

Teachers at some sixth form colleges in Sussex have walked out amid a pay dispute with the government.

The three-day strike, which began on Tuesday, is affecting around 8,000 students at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC), Verndene College and Collier’s in Horsham.

The National Education Union said the government was taking action after failing to resolve the “blatant pay discrepancy” between non-academy sixth form colleges and their academy counterparts.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Sixth form colleges are responsible for setting appropriate pay for their workforce and managing their own industrial relations.”

“The October Budget provided an extra £300m of revenue funding for further education to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs,” he said.

“The Department will determine in due course how these funds will be distributed.”

The union said it had hoped the government would include teachers at 40 non-academy colleges in its funding for a 5.5% pay rise across the rest of the profession, but they have been left out.

Phil Clarke, south-east regional secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Our members will not back down on this issue.” “This is absolutely unjust.”

He added, “Sixth form college teachers do the same work with the same commitment and the same importance.”

“We will never accept a two-tier workforce.”

Mr Clarke warned that low pay at colleges would ultimately hit students as staff leave for better pay amid a “recruitment crisis” in the sector.

He said that the union is willing to resolve the dispute with the government.

“No teacher wants to strike,” Mr Clarke said. “They want to be in the classrooms doing what they do best: teaching.”

employees at Last year there was a strike in three colleges,