Managers at Wakefield College must think again after denying staff a wage rise despite being given the funds to do so, says UNISON today (Friday).
The union has launched a formal pay dispute over the college’s refusal to discuss any pay increase. UNISON says a pay rise rise is both deserved and needed as prices and bills continue to soar.
UNISON and other trade unions wrote to the employer in July, expressing concern about how the college was conducting negotiations and seeking clarification about how it was tackling pay.
The unions made it clear in the letter that a formal dispute would be implemented if further clarifications over the college’s conduct weren’t provided.
The chief executive of Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, which runs Wakefield College, did not respond. No steps have been taken since to resolve the dispute, despite the union making clear that a dispute process would begin if no progress was made.
UNISON attended a meeting with college managers yesterday (Thursday). The union was expecting Wakefield College to say it planned to use its share of extra government funding to boost staff pay.
The Department for Education made clear last month when announcing this £185m cash injection for further education that it should be spent on staff retention and recruitment, says the union.
However, Wakefield College has claimed it cannot increase wages because of its “deficit budget situation”.
UNISON Wakefield branch secretary Sam Greenwood said: “Wakefield College has been given funding from central government specifically for staff pay.
“It’s outrageous for college managers to say they can’t afford to increase pay when they received money to do exactly that just a few weeks ago.”
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Rianne Hooley said: “Wakefield College’s conduct over pay has been completely unacceptable. UNISON has been left with no choice but to lodge a formal dispute.
“The union is keen to resolve this, and has offered to meet with college managers through arbitration service Acas.
“It’s now up to Wakefield College to sit down for talks with UNISON to get this situation resolved, avoid a future strike and give staff the wage rise they more than deserve.”
