Up to 40 further education colleges in England have closed, as 30,000 lecturers and support staff stage a one-day strike over pay.

The action, which has also forced individual departments in up to 15% of colleges to shut, is causing disruption to tens of thousands of students.

Our members have no wish to strike, but there is real desperation in the sector

Dr Mike Wilkinson, Natfhe representative

The Association of Colleges (AoC) said it was the first time in a decade that any of England's general FE colleges had been closed by industrial action.

Staff in the further education sector - often known as the Cinderella of education - have long been campaigning for better pay, with lecturers particularly aggrieved that their pay has fallen behind school teachers.

Members of five unions - Natfhe, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), Unison, the GMB and the T&G - have rejected a 2.3% pay rise offered by the AoC.

They say the rise is "insulting", but the AoC - the national negotiating body for more than 300 colleges - says college principals cannot afford to better the offer.

'Desperation'

Dr Mike Wilkinson, Natfhe representative for Sussex Downs College in Lewes, said: "We have been campaigning for months."

"We took strike action in May, which led to a small increase in the offer to 2.3%, but six months of lobbying of central government has had no tangible effect.

"Our members have no wish to strike, but there is real desperation in the sector."

Lecturers staged a two-day strike in May

Natfhe says the average starting salary for a lecturer is �13,745, rising to �25,000 at the top of the scale.

But teachers - following a 3.5% pay rise in April - can expect to start on a salary of �17,628, with most earning �25,746.

ATL Deputy General Secretary Gerald Imison accused the government of abdicating its responsibility to get involved in finding a solution to the matter.

"The government cannot continue to stand by uttering sympathetic platitudes whilst demoralised lecturers leave colleges in order to earn a living wage elsewhere," said Mr Imison.

"Crucial to any solution is the need to pay lecturers properly and to treat them as the professionals they are."

Shadow Education Secretary Damian Green said the solution was "for the government to stop treating the FE sector as an afterthought".

'Hold back'

The AoC is urging the unions to hold back and put the needs of students and their education first.

The association is anticipating the new Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, will make an announcement on long-term funding for the sector at its annual conference on 19 November.

Ivor Jones, director of employment policy, said: "We believe that the trade unions that represent our staff should at least give the secretary of state for education the opportunity to make his Comprehensive Spending Review announcement without pre-judging the outcome with strike action."

"The commitment of AoC to college staff remains steadfast on the issue of pay - we want to secure equality of pay with schools and other training providers for all staff in general further education colleges."

Mr Jones said the government had committed to an increase in core funding but the earliest that could be implemented was from April 2003.

"Consequently there is at present no additional money to fund this year's pay negotiations beyond the association's recommendation to further education colleges on 11 June 2002 of 2.3% or a flat rate of �400 to the lowest paid support staff - equivalent to 5%."

Strike action by FE workers in Wales was called off, after the Welsh Assembly offered an extra �9m last Thursday for lecturers and support staff pay.