Tower Hamlets College are taking two more days of strike action on 6th and 11th June. This follows earlier action when members walked out over pay on 28 Feb, 1 March, and 11th, 14th and 15th May.

The dispute has arisen following a disappointing pay offer of 1% from the employer representative, the Association of Colleges, in September, which UCU says fails to address the years of pay suppression. At some colleges the dispute also includes concerns about working conditions including holiday entitlement, workload and observation policies.
It would cost just over £2m to meet our claim. The college has net assets of approx £40m plus. As of last year the college had £11m of cash reserves (net funds according to the 2016/17 accounts). The acquisition of Redbridge produced a gain of £9.9m.

There is money for those at the top. The CEO earns £185k salary, this is justified in two ways. Firstly, increasing the CEO salary is a saving because there are less Principals. Secondly, the CEO is now working harder. Surely the same is true for lecturers and support staff.

When spending is a priority, paying off banks, buying building, paying consultants, salary rises for those at the top, paying privatised companies or making staff redundant, then the money can be found. Now it must be found for our pay.

We have lost more than 20% of the value of our spending power since 2009. Our claim is for 3% above inflation. We need 3% to see that our salary doesn't further depreciate, the additional 3% is a modest claim to catch up for years of depreciation. For a full-time top scale lecturer this equates to a loss of £9,500 per year.

We are striking to win a pay rise and better conditions. That means we need your help to provide hardship payments to those lecturers who are on low pay and in need of financial support. We have so far raised about £4000 from the solidarity of trade union branches around London. This will provide some compensation for the five days strike action we have already taken.

But we need to take more action if we are to achieve our goals. We therefore ask you to donate whatever you can and support our struggle.

Thank you for your support and solidarity.