UK
Strikes at colleges suspended after 'progress' made in pay dispute

Rebecca Newlands
Mon, 19 August 2024

Strikes at colleges suspended after 'progress' made in pay dispute


ukUpcoming strikes at colleges have been suspended after 'progress' was made in a pay dispute.

College lecturers based at learning institutions across Scotland were set to walk out in a dispute over pay this week.

Dates were originally set for Tuesday, August 20, Wednesday, August 21, and Thursday, August 22 and would impact colleges across the country including Glasgow Kelvin College and West College Scotland, which has campuses in Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley.

Now the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has revealed that strike action has been suspended after they reached 'significant' progress at a meeting with EIS-FELA representatives, College Employers Scotland and the Scottish Government Minister for Further & Higher Education on Monday.

EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: "EIS-FELA representatives met with representatives of Scotland’s Colleges after meeting the Minister responsible for Further Education, this morning.

"Significant progress was made at this meeting, with the result that EIS-FELA and the EIS have decided to suspend three days of strike action, scheduled for this week.

"This is intended as an act of good faith and in the interests of supporting students and is on the understanding that an improved offer will be made formally by College Employers Scotland in the coming days.

"While a final settlement has yet to be reached, EIS-FELA negotiators were significantly encouraged by today’s developments and believed it appropriate to suspend this week's strikes.

"Based on discussions this morning, we remain hopeful that a resolution can be struck that will finally see a fair pay settlement that will allow lecturers to return to working as normal, and to do what they do best which is supporting their students in colleges across Scotland to learn and progress.

"Discussions will now continue to iron out final details. Once a revised offer is formally on the table, our intention is to put this to EIS-FELA members in a ballot.

"Today has brought us closer to an end to this long-running dispute, and we hope that discussions will now move quickly and smoothly towards a fair agreement for all parties and a return for students to the uninterrupted, quality learning and teaching that they need and deserve."

Jeremy Corbyn offers support to Scottish college lecturers in long-running pay battle

Gabriel McKay
Sun, 18 August 2024 

Jeremy Corbyn


Jeremy Corbyn has offered his support to lecturers at Edinburgh College who face pay deductions as part of an ongoing industrial dispute.

As part of a long-running dispute over pay, members of the EIS-FELA union are engaged in action short of a strike, including not inputting results into college systems.

The dispute has been ongoing since 2021, with no pay rise agreed between college employers and the union.

EIS-FELA has announced that new strike dates will take place this month after a re-ballot of its members renewed its mandate.

Read More:

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Lecturers 'stand between the students and disaster' as pay fight goes on

Last week, lecturers at Edinburgh College were told they faced having pay withheld as part of the dispute "unless there is an agreed reason for a resulting delay", a process known as 'deeming'.

Following a talk with Neil Findlay, the former Labour MSP, at the Edinburgh Fringe, Mr Corbyn offered his support to the lecturers.

The former Labour leader said: "I just want to send my solidarity to the lecturers, what they are doing is fighting for decent pay and conditions.

"Decent pay and conditions and proper funding of further and higher education means a better experience for students, means better achievements of our students, and in the end a much better society.

"Short-changing our teachers, short-changing our lecturers, short-changing our support staff, damages the life chances of all of our young people.

"So stick at it, and win."

EIS Branch Secretary Dan Holland said: "By choosing to punish staff for participating in Action Short of a Strike and deduct all their salary, this has now escalated the matter locally which will only serve to harm industrial relations.

"Following a local strike last year which damaged these relations, the local EIS branch has worked extremely hard with local management to repair this trust.

"This unconscionable act of deducting all our salary for refusing to complete less than 1% of our job is effectively locking staff out of coming to work, as the Principal clearly stated that any work carried out would be considered voluntary and go unpaid.

"The local branch implores the Principal to withdraw this punitive approach to evidence her commitment to the agreed cultural reset.”

Edinburgh College has been contacted for comment.