November 2002

Managers count too!

Things certainly seem to be beginning to move on the pay front. First the Financial Times (Tuesday 22nd October) carried a report stating that Estelle Morris was about to pledge to narrow the pay gap for college lecturers and that she would announce the target in November, alongside a big increase in funding for FE colleges. Unfortunately, she was only Secretary of State for another twenty-four hours! Then, not to be beaten, Jane Davidson, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning at the Welsh Assembly, announced on Thursday an extra £9m funding for college lecturers and support staff pay, with the aim of securing a common pay scale with teachers by 2004. It is almost as though, after years of neglect, politicians in England and Wales are competing with each other to see who can resolve the FE pay crisis first. College employees, who have seen their pay fall behind that of teachers and other public sector workers but who don’t seem to have the same media impact or public support as firefighters, will warmly welcome both announcements and hope that the rhetoric is turned into action.

ACM has strongly supported the need to address low pay in FE as a top priority, particularly for support staff. The Association is unusual as a trades union in campaigning as hard for an increase in pay for those managed by our members as for our members themselves. College managers have to cope with the fallout caused by low pay: recruitment and retention difficulties, poorly motivated and overworked staff constantly looking over their shoulders for the next reorganisation or merger that might threaten their job, all leading to poor learner performance. Proper funding and a well-paid and motivated workforce is required if the Government’s ambitious targets, set out in “Success for All”, are going to be achieved. And now maybe the message is beginning to get through.

But something is missing from both announcements. There is no mention of managers. Once again it seems that college managers are going to be made the scapegoat. In Wales the Association has not been consulted on the detail of the proposals in the same ways as other TUC affiliated unions have been. This appears to be based on an outdated political prejudice against managers and an appalling ignorance on the role that they play, and the contributions they make in improving the recruitment, retention and achievement of learners in colleges. Ofsted inspection reports show the importance of leadership and management in further education colleges. Many college managers carry heavy teaching workloads. Chronic under-funding of the further education sector has forced colleges into mergers, reorganisations and restructuring exercises. Management posts are often the first to go but the workload does not reduce, merely increasing the burden on those managers that survive. Is it any wonder that the number of college managers suffering stress related illnesses is increasing so rapidly? They are often inadequately trained, appointed to management posts because they are good teachers and then not given the skills to do the job. When things go wrong they are the first to be blamed. A poor inspection is almost always followed by the departure of senior managers.

College teachers and support workers deserve the imbalance in pay with other public sector workers to be addressed but the same also applies to college managers. Significantly reducing the differential will only result in fewer and fewer college workers being prepared to take on managerial responsibilities. The recent Association of Colleges survey on recruitment and retention difficulties in colleges clearly shows that there are as many management vacancies as there are for teaching and support workers. ACM’s own research, carried out in collaboration with the General Federation of Trades Unions, indicates that college managers could expect to earn up to £6,000 more doing comparable jobs in the private sector. And many are voting with their feet.

So the ACM message to Ministers in both England and Wales is clear. World-class outputs require world-class inputs. Bring the pay of college staff back up to that of other parts of the public sector. Address the issue of low pay. But don’t improve the position of one group of workers at the expense of another.

No Branch Yet?

Although our membership is growing steadily, there are still some workplaces where we have only a handful of members. Indeed, making the breakthrough to a significant membership level can take time. But experience shows that the creation of an ACM branch can be a catalyst for new membership applications.

If you think your workplace needs an ACM branch then please let us know. We’re looking for interested members who can be our contact and help us bring in new recruits. Employment Officer David Green explains, “The presence of an ACM branch leads to better communications, a higher profile and new members. This in turn can lead to a stronger voice for college managers. So any help from members locally is always welcome.”

ACM can supply you with recruitment packs and other literature. We can provide a speaker from head office and guide you through the process of setting up a new branch. Members interested in finding out more should contact David Green at head office, or e-mail davidgreen@acm.uk.com