瓜神网 members win 9.2% pay award at Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale

An overwhelming 98% of 瓜神网 members at Hopwood voted to accept the offer, which will arrive in this month's pay packets and is back dated to August. The deal is worth 9.2% for most lecturers. For new lecturers who are at the bottom of the spine and for Skills Development Coaches the deal is worth 20.25%, over 拢5k. All pay awards are consolidated. The deal also includes a commitment to creating a joint workload agreement with 瓜神网 before the end of the academic year.

Staff at Hopwood Hall called off strike action earlier this year due to meaningful pay negotiations taking place. Elsewhere, more than 30 colleges across England have seen up to 10 days of strike action over the past two months over pay, in what has been the biggest wave of industrial action English further education has ever seen. Many disputes are still live and 瓜神网 is calling on other colleges to follow Hopwood and make pay offers that help staff deal with the cost of living crisis if they want to avoid any further disruption.

This summer, 瓜神网 produced a report that shows the vast majority of 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.

The Department for Education has  拢1.6bn in extra funding for further education and 瓜神网 estimates that colleges already have an additional 拢400m that is available to spend on staff compared with 2019-20.

瓜神网 general secretary Jo Grady said: 'This is a huge win for our members at Hopwood Hall and will mean staff have more money in their pockets to deal with the cost of living crisis and soaring energy bills. If other colleges want to avoid any more strike action over the coming months then they also need to make pay offers that address these issues. Otherwise, they will face further disruption.'