Conflict in the colleges: industrial relations in further education since incorporation

This paper explains the high level of industrial action undertaken by further education lecturers in post-incorporation colleges in England and Wales. Four main sources of conflict (job losses, casualisation of employment, conditions of service and pay) are identified, but these are shown to be symptoms rather than causal factors. Rather, due weight should be given to the importance of structural factors relating to the way in which the incorporation policy was enacted, underpinned by the values and orientations of the key actors.