TEACHING staff from the UCU union at Darlington College have announced that they will go on strike on Tuesday (November 10) at the Haughton Road site.

Union official Tim Paver said they reluctantly called the strike action after staff had yet again been refused a pay award.

The Association of Colleges made a national recommendation not to allocate a pay award because of the financial crisis facing the further education (FE) sector.

Mr Paver said: “It’s time the government realised how important FE colleges like ours are in the community.

“The skills, the training and the support we provide for the young people in this town and beyond are completely under-valued and staff are sick and tired of being ignored.

“We know how stretched college finances are but staff can’t be expected to carry on with such a heavy burden and not be valued or rewarded in any way, year after year.

“Another year with no increase in pay adds insult to injury.”

Darlington College, which specialises in vocational courses at its £35m campus, has suffered a dramatic fall from grace in recent years.

In 2009 it was judged ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted but was downgraded to ‘inadequate’ after its most recent inspection in March this year.

Responding to the upcoming strike action, Darlington College principal Kate Roe said: "It is disappointing that the union have decided to take industrial action, but the college will remain open as usual and there will be minimal disruption to students.

"This is a national pay dispute affecting colleges and down the country."