PROBLEMS are continuing to mount for St Albans' troubled Oaklands College, which now faces the prospect of industrial action by its lecturers.

NATFHE the University and College Lecturers' Union began balloting its members across the country on Wednesday, over falling pay levels and the widening gap between between lecturers' and school teachers' pay.

The union is demanding an immediate £3,000 pay increase for all lecturers, including a pro-rata rise for part-time lecturers, and has pledged a one-day strike on May 22 if its demands are not met.

The union's general secretary Mr Paul Mackney said: "You will not find a college lecturer in the country that is satisfied with pay levels.

"They are teaching more students, coping with mounting paperwork and working longer hours.

"NATFHE has tried over the past three years to avoid a slide into confrontation. But all we've had is promises of jam tomorrow. Lecturers feel ignored and insulted and they are turning to industrial action as a last resort."

Mr Mackney claims that lecturers' patience over declining pay, which is now some ten per cent behind that of school teachers, has finally run out and morale among staff is at an all time low.

He said: "We do a similar job to school teachers, yet the education miracles our members perform daily go unrewarded.

"It's hardly surprising that their patience is wearing thin."

St Albans MP Kerry Pollard has also backed calls for pay increases in the further education sector after meeting with lecturers at Oaklands College.

More than 50 staff are facing redundancy as the college attempts to recoup more than £1.5 million from the Further Education Funding Council after failing to meet student targets.

The drastic cost-cutting exercise means that it is unlikely staff will receive the nationally recommended three per cent pay award, as the college remains in financial difficulty.

Mr Pollard tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament last month in an attempt to highlight the "crisis" in further education.

He said: "This Early Day Motion is intended to draw attention to the crisis in further education, after many years of neglect by the previous government.

"I can confident that our government, which is committed to the concept of lifelong learning, intends to do something to enable colleges to deliver this learning.

"What is now needed is swift action to ensure that the skills of lecturers, developed over the years, are not lost in the meantime, and that people can continue to benefit from courses delivered locally, within their own community."

A spokesman for Oaklands said that no decision had yet been made as to whether staff would receive the annual pay award, but stressed that substantial savings had already been made at the college through voluntary redundancies.

He added: "We've introduced a series of cost-cutting measures to ensure we're not spending unwisely and should be able to break even at the end of the financial year."