UCU response to Bridget Phillipson speech

Responding to Bridget Phillipson's speech to Labour conference, UCU general secretary Jo Grady said:

‘It is a breath of fresh air to have an Education Secretary who is eager to work in partnership with unions while respecting hard-working college and university staff rather than denigrating them. It is all the more promising to have someone explicit about their socialist political vision running a government department which had become despoiled by hard-right culture warriors.  

‘We now need to see these warm words backed up by hard cash. Labour will not deliver a decade of national renewal without massive public investment in our colleges and universities. Skills gaps in critical industries will not be filled so long as English college teachers  are paid 23% less than their counterparts in schools. It is our further education members who will enable the green jobs of the future, providing essential retraining and upskilling.  

‘A thriving post-16 education sector is a precondition for the success of Labour's core objectives in government, from energy security to opportunity for all. That must be reflected in the Budget.'