College employers have warmly welcomed news that UNISON and Unite members have overwhelmingly voted to accept the employers’ full and final three year pay offer, following previous strong support by trade unions for a similar offer earlier in the year.

Results from a ballot of UNISON members released today (Friday 31 May) indicates the vast majority of those who voted agreed to accept the offer of a £5,000 consolidated pay rise over three years, across Academic Years 2022-23 to 2024-25.

This news follows Unite members also voting again to accept the three year pay offer by almost 90% today (Friday 31 May), and GMB members voting to accept a similar three year pay offer by 100% earlier in the year.

Gavin Donoghue, Director of College Employers Scotland, said:

“It is great to see UNISON and Unite members have voted so overwhelmingly to accept the employers’ £5,000 consolidated pay offer over three academic years.

“This pay offer will deliver a near 16% average pay rise for support staff from September, and a 21.5% increase for those staff earning less than £25,000.

“Talks to secure a pay settlement have been ongoing since 2022, and we know support staff in colleges just want the pay rise in their pockets as soon as possible. Therefore, if the employers’ pay offer is formally accepted by support staff unions next week, colleges will seek to apply pay increases in the earliest possible pay period.”