"Stressed teachers don't deliver good outcomes" - second day of strikes at City of Portsmouth College in dispute over pay and working conditions

University and College Union (UCU) and National Education Union (NEU) members have set up picket lines across the college’s three campuses in Portsmouth on Thursday, January 15.

At the Highbury campus, Rachael Parker, a lecturer and UCU representative, said: “Our workloads are unmanageable. We want an organisation led agreement on workload as we believe stressed teachers do not deliver good outcomes.”

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The national strike came about after a pay increase deal could not be agreed. College bosses offered a 2.5 per cent pay rise with the union campaigning for a 10 per cent increase over the next three years.

The UCU alongside its sister unions NEU, GMB, UNISON and Unite, are calling for further education staff to have pay parity with schoolteachers, national workload agreements and a binding national bargaining framework.

On the picket line, Rachael said they have had lot of support from students and members of the public. She said: “The reaction has been very positive. Students are supporting us and they obviously believe in their teachers.

“We don’t do this for the money, we do this because we care. We love education and that is why we have put up with the erosion of our pay and conditions but we have had enough.”

City of Portsmouth College have said it understand the union’s position and will continue to engage with them to find a resolution.

The college also stated that “positive strides” have been implemented in the past three years, especially regarding work life balance, and it is “committed to creating a working environment that’s inclusive, aspirational and accommodating to all its staff”.