Please sign this open letter to the principal of Weston College today if you work on the prison estate and want a pay rise as soon as possible.
The number of staff signing the letter will be disclosed. Names will be publicised when at least 50 staff have signed the letter, and will be presented to Weston senior management as part of the pay campaign. You can still sign the letter if you are not yet a UCU member but are eligible to join us. UCU is the only union that represents all prison education lecturers, tutors and trainers. We also represent other roles that are involved with teaching or directly involved in curriculum delivery in prison education. The more members your union has the stronger we all are.
Read the 2023/24 pay claim here and click here to join UCU.
Dear principal
Prison staff need a pay rise
The cost of living crisis is hitting staff hard. You will have seen our pay claim requesting a 15.5% pay rise and we are keen to progress the negotiations and reach an agreement before we face another winter with sky-high energy bills. We note that outgoing principal Dr Phillips had a pay rise of 16%–we believe that prison education staff also deserve this kind of pay rise in recognition of the life-changing work they do, day in, day out, in challenging circumstances. Our pay claim also requests the inclusion of gate time in pay, and for a meaningful agreement on workload.
Staff working in prison education have been contacting the UCU reps and are encouraging you to move swiftly on their pay uplift and confirm the next steps as soon as possible. To indicate the strength of feeling on pay, staff are supporting this open letter and have asked UCU to raise it directly with you.
With best wishes
UCU Weston College prison education branch