REBEL lecturers are holding out in a running dispute with bosses at the Wigan and Leigh College.

Unions are backing the 29 higher education teachers at the sites in Leigh and Wigan who have refused to sign a new "flexible" contract with a 3.3 percent pay offer.

Union NATFHE is furious that the lecturers were refused any pay increase at all because of their stance.

A NATFHE spokesperson said: "The Government has given money for all colleges to give their staff a cost of living pay rise.

"While a large proportion of staff at Wigan and Leigh College have received a pay rise of 3.3 percent before Christmas, a significant minority of staff were denied it."

The spokesman claimed the staff members did not receive a pay rise because they had not signed new flexible contracts.

"The college management and governors have refused to grant a pay rise to this group of people, even for inflation, on the specious grounds that they will not sign up to the so called flexible contracts which were not negotiated by the relevant union."

The contracts have been heavily criticised by NATFHE who said they were "imposed on the membership without regard to the spirit of the union negotiated contract of 1995". "The subsequent non-union negotiated pay rises from 1995 required a clause in which those signing agreed to working a more flexible working week to a maximum of 26 hours. Yet a yearly maximum of 810 hours is still maintained from the NATFHE negotiated contract of 1995.

"The continued denial of a pay award is counter productive to morale and invites divisiveness among the staff."

A Wigan College spokesman said as far as they were concerned there was no formal dispute.

"The 29 members concerned have not gone through college procedures. If the 29 lecturers have a grievance they should go through the college procedures.

"As far as we are concerned there is no formal dispute."

She added the pay rise had been accepted by the majority of NATFHE members.