College lecturers agree more strike dates as part of long-running pay dispute

College lecturers have agreed additional strike action with the start to term set to be disrupted for some students.

An emergency committee meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has agreed a further six days of strikes as part of a long-running pay dispute.

The action is due to take place from August 20-22 and 27-30 – excluding Wednesday, August 28 – and could affect the start of term for a number of students.

It has also been warned that more walkouts could be imminent, with further action to be considered during a special meeting of the EIS executive next week.

Andrea Bradley, EIS General Secretary said: “Our members continue to stand firm in displaying their strong and unwavering commitment to industrial action in pursuit of a fair pay settlement from college employers.

“Scotland’s FE lecturers have not had a pay increase since September 2021 and, for the past three years, have had to endure a sharp decline in the real-terms value of their salaries throughout the worst cost-of-living crisis in living memory.

“It is right that EIS-FELA continues to fight for a just pay award for lecturers, in the face of intransigence from College Employers Scotland and an unwillingness so far on the part of the Scottish Government to step up and play its part in bringing about a satisfactory resolution.

“I have written to the Minister for FE again today, urging the Scottish Government to act in accordance with its recent manifesto promises to stand up for workers and stand up for public services, by putting a stop to deeming by college employers and by providing a small amount of funding in comparison to that given to other public sector pay settlements to bring this dispute to an end.”

Gavin Donoghue, director of College Employers Scotland (CES), said: “It is deeply regrettable that the EIS-FELA is planning yet more strikes at the start of the academic year, on top of the continuing resulting boycott.

“College Employers Scotland has proposed a four-year pay award worth an average of almost £6,500 and which keeps Scotland’s college lecturers as the best paid in the UK.

“The employers’ offer would deliver substantial salary increases for staff, with the starting salary of a college lecturer rising to over £41,000 from September next year.

“Given the perilous state of the college sector’s finances, further strikes from the EIS-FELA will not result in an improvement to the already substantial pay proposals from employers.

“Colleges strongly urge the EIS-FELA to call off these new strikes, and their resulting boycott, so as not to damage the chances of students at the start of their learner journey or those who are seeking to move on to positive destinations.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “Responsibility for these negotiations quite rightly rests with the National Joint Negotiating Committee.

“The Further Education Minister has engaged with both trade unions and college employers on multiple occasions to encourage progress towards a resolution of the dispute.

“The Scottish Government will continue this engagement as both parties work to reach a settlement which is fair and affordable.”