Lewisham Southwark College’s staff striking for pay rise  Pic: @JoeDromey

Further education teachers at Lewisham and Southwark College have won a long running pay dispute against their employers.

The teachers, who belong to the University and College Union, were granted an annual £350 pay rise by their employers, Newcastle College Group, following a two day strike in September.

The dispute occurred after the NCG refused to pay specific weighting to London staff at the college.

Iain Owens, UCU’s regional official, said: “UCU members at Lewisham and Southwark colleges have accepted the new package on offer and we now want to work with NCG to get them onto the pay-progression system enjoyed by NCG employees elsewhere in the country.”

The non-profit education and training group, which is a collection of colleges throughout the UK, was paying its entire staff higher fees excluding those living in Newcastle and London.

NCG also agreed to change how strike pay deductions are calculated in the future as part of the revisions for consistency across all NCG colleges.

Rebecca Lawrence, a member of UCU who was at the strike in September, said the movement gained “attention” and “momentum” on social media.

Joe Dromey, Councillor for New Cross and Cabinet Member for Lewisham, was also present at the strike. He tweeted his support for the dispute being resolved.

Both the UCU and NCG also took to social media to announce their plans to “work better together” from now on.

Chris Payne, interim chief executive of NCG, said: “We’re pleased to have found a solution to this issue and we’re committed to further developing the long-term relationship with our trade union partners.”