Lambeth College votes to continue the strike!

**Breaking News**

Lambeth College UCU members last night voted to reject the offer made by college management.

Members at Lambeth have had no real pay rise for a decade. They’ve taken part in all the waves of the successful rolling strike action that FE has adopted and which has seen magnificent wins at CCCG and Hugh Baird Colleges, with other colleges also now being forced into negotiations by huge turnouts and votes for action over pay.

I stood with Lambeth College strikers on their last picket lines. I joined them in their (very appropriate) chant, ‘The money’s there, we want our share!’

It is totally unacceptable that after suffering a real terms pay cut for ten years members are now being offered only 1.5% for this year. Especially after their recent merger with London South Bank University meant that the government has written off their debt!

I send my solidarity to all of the colleges striking over pay next week and encourage everyone to send donations where possible, messages of support privately and publicly on social media and visit picket lines. Let’s pull together to raise the profile of this campaign!

It’s an absolute disgrace that FE has been run into the ground for so long and that staff have had to suffer stagnated pay for as long as a decade in places like Lambeth.

If I am elected as General Secretary I will fight to stop the rot and ensure that FE is given the value it deserves by ensuring that members pay is a priority.

I will make sure that FE members have a strong, equal voice in our union and are not sidelined and marginalised as they are by employers and the government.

I’m here today because of FE. I know how important education for all is for our society. I work in Widening Participation and Fair Access so I know first hand how vitally important FE is to the much needed diversity of the student body in HE. I don’t think members in HE realize just how much we rely on our colleagues in FE to help enrich our universities with their students.

Please do what you can to support.

Here’s a list of the striking colleges: