Lambeth College dispute is over as UCU members accept revised terms

The nine month dispute over staff contracts at Lambeth College ended today when UCU members voted to accept revised terms from the college, meaning staff will return to work tomorrow.

Union members walked out indefinitely on Monday January 19 over the dispute, having already been on strike for five days this month, six in December and for five week in June. The row centred on new staff contracts which the union said it had not been properly consulted over and contained unfair conditions.

At 4 p.m today UCU members voted overwhelming in favour of accepting a revised offer from the college. This means all current staff will stay on their old contracts and the new contract for incoming staff has “significant improvements to working hours and sick pay.”

Barry Lovejoy, national head of regional organisation at UCU, said members were “extremely pleased” with the result. He told the Brixton Blog UCU was “glad to see its members return to the job and to provide an excellent service to the students at Lambeth College.”

Principal Mark Silverman said: “The College has always been open to, and hopeful of achieving, a reasonable
resolution to this dispute, and I welcome the end of strike action and return to work.

“We are very clear on the steps we need to take to improve the quality of our teaching and to assure our financial position as we build a high-quality sustainable College for South London. The terms and conditions in the ‘new’ contract, and the agreement we have reached today, support both of those objectives and I am pleased that we can
now put the dispute behind us.”