By Socialist Alternative members in the National Education Union

After seven days of strike action so far, NEU members are preparing to take further action after talks with the Sixth Form College Association (SFCA) ended inconclusively in mid-January.

As covered by Socialist Alternative previously, this dispute began with the bewildering decision by the government to only fund a 2% pay rise in non-academised sixth form colleges, whilst providing funding for 5.5% pay rises for their academy counterparts. While it is possible this was a mere oversight, the Starmer government’s stubborn refusal to correct the funding disparity have meant that in 32 sixth form colleges across England, students have lost a week and a half of lessons. This action is not a decision that sixth form college teachers have taken lightly, but is testament to the frustration that those teachers hold and their resolve to fight for pay justice.

At the January talks with the SFCA, a newer offer was suggested – 3.5% backdated to September, with a move to 5.5% in April when the £300 million announced in the budget is made available for the sector. Crucially, however, the 5.5% in April would not be backdated to September, leaving the average non-academised sixth form college teacher £570 worse off than they would be if their college was academised. 

This offer seemed to be part of a transaction the SFCA made with the Department for Education (DfE). Having previously announced that they would be seeking a judicial review into the DfE’s decision to break up collective bargaining, the SFCA coincidentally announced they had dropped the judicial review after making the revised offer! This makes it even clearer that tackling the issue of funding in the education sector cannot be left to the negotiations of school/college leaders and the government, but instead must be fought for and won by determined and co-ordinated trade union action.

The figures involved in the dispute are now miniscule. Following the revised offer, the government need only cough up a further £1.2 million to settle the dispute by funding a 5.5% pay rise for all. This tiny sum could easily be found by the government if they had the will to find it.

Prepare for wider battles

Another part of the dispute that should be considered is the politics behind it. Unlike other disputes which the government inherited from the ailing Sunak government, this is a dispute of Labour’s own making. Their ignorance of the post-16 education sector is what has prompted this dispute.

Starmer and Reeves wish send positive signals to the capitalist class by stubbornly repeating the lie that the government does not set pay in sixth form colleges. This is something which they must know to be false, but Starmer repeated this lie in the House of Commons on Wednesday 22 January at Prime Minister’s Questions.

The dispute now has become a proxy conflict between the NEU and the Labour government ahead of a potential clash over schoolteacher’s pay for 2025/26, after reports suggesting the government will only offer a pitiful 2.8% pay increase. The NEU has rightly launched an indicative ballot in response ahead of this year’s Annual Conference, where a course of action will be decided. As eyes turn towards the first big national dispute under this Starmer government, this smaller dispute taking place risks being forgotten about by the union leadership.

The NEU needs to force the government to back down prior to April, but needs to also ensure any offer does not include a clause that locks-in sixth form colleges to a 2% pay offer for 2025/26. Doing so would only worsen the recruitment and retention crisis in post-16 education. 

The leadership of the NEU needs to put the full weight of the union behind the sixth form college teachers, with national leaders involving themselves fully in the dispute and calling on NEU districts to build the dispute. This should include inviting striking sixth form stewards to speak at meetings, and calling a national meeting for all reps following the next strike action, to review progress and assess the next steps in the campaign.  

Socialist Alternative is calling for

• Democratic control of the dispute. The election of rank-and-file strike committees in all 32 striking sixth form colleges to coordinate action. 
• Escalation of action. Call member demonstrations in key areas to put visible pressure on the government. 
• The leadership of the NEU to take a hands-on approach as part of the dispute, putting the full weight of their political influence to the furtherance of pay restoration. This should include lobbying all progressive parties to champion our demands in parliament, including the newly elected independent group of MPs led by Jeremy Corbyn.
• District delegations to MPs in all constituencies to put pressure on the Labour Party to settle the dispute.
• End academication in all schools and colleges. For a fully-funded education system!