Following six days of strike action by National Education Union (NEU) members at Salford City College, including three this week, the union has announced a further four days of action on 4th, 5th, 10th and 11th December.
The increasingly bitter dispute, centred around Salford College management's refusal to implement a nationally agreed pay and conditions deal, has seen picket lines outside sites at Pendleton Sixth Form College, Future Skills Media City and City Skills on Frederick Road, and reports by students of security staff ripping up their leaflets explaining why the teachers are on strike.
"It's been six days of striking with no communication from management" says Mark Sullivan, NEU rep for the College "It's quite bizarre. We want to get back into the classroom and get back to helping and improving the lives of our students.
"This has been going on since May 2019" he explains "We have been patient, we have asked for some compromise but we have had nothing so far. Management seems content to wait this out. That's really not what we want to do. We are mild mannered polite teachers.
"We would rather be correcting essays than waving placards but sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe in and do all you can to demand to be listened to" he adds "It seems like management wants to break our will by ignoring us but that really isn't a mature response. We want to negotiate now..."
Salford City College hasn't responded to a Salford Star request for a comment.
For a full background see previous Salford Star articles – click here and click here and click here
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