Created on: 21 Mar 2024
The Educational Institute of Scotland has given notice to all of Scotland’s Further Education colleges of a programme of rolling strike action in a long running dispute over pay.
This marks a further escalation in the pay dispute, where members of the EIS-Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA) have been taking action short of strike since the middle of February and have already taken a national day of strike action.
Targeted strike action also started last week with members at Dundee and Angus College and continued with further days of strike action this week at Fife College and will continue at Glasgow Clyde College next week. The targeted strike action is focussed on the constituencies of Scottish Government Ministers including the Minister for Higher and Further Education (Graeme Dey), the Cabinet Secretary for Education (Jenny Gilruth) and the First Minister (Humza Yousaf) and is aimed at those with the ability to help resolve the dispute, in the belief that this can help bring an end to the long-running industrial action and finally deliver a fair pay settlement for lecturers.
College lecturers should have received a pay uplift at the beginning of September 2022 but following over a year of protracted negotiations, College Employers Scotland have stated that all they can provide is a ‘full and final’ pay offer of £5,000 over three years, this amidst the worst cost of living crisis in generations. For many EIS FELA members, the amount of money tabled in the second and third years of this offer sit below the levels of cost of living pay awards set by current public sector pay policy. The EIS-FELA does not accept that their members should be treated any differently to any other public sector worker and are simply seeking a pay offer which is reflective of their public sector status and their professional role in education.
Beginning on Tuesday 16th April, as an escalation of their current industrial dispute, a rolling programme of strikes will take place with several colleges taking strike action each day for fourteen days. A full programme of strike action is provided over the page.
Rolling Action Week One:
Tuesday 16th April: City of Glasgow College, Glasgow Clyde College & Glasgow Kelvin College
Wednesday 17th April: Borders College, Dumfries & Galloway College, Dundee and Angus College, Edinburgh College, Fife College, Newbattle Abbey College, North East Scotland College, West Lothian College
Thursday 18th April: Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, UHI Argyll, UHI Inverness, UHI Moray, UHI Perth, UHI Shetland, UHI North, West and Hebrides
Friday 19th April: Ayrshire College, Forth Valley College, New College Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire College, West College Scotland
Rolling Action Week Two:
Monday 22nd April: Borders College, City of Glasgow College, UHI Inverness, UHI North, West and Hebrides
Tuesday 23rd April: Fife College, New College Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire College, UHI Moray, West Lothian College
Wednesday 24th April: Ayrshire College, Forth Valley College, Newbattle Abbey College, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, UHI Shetland
Thursday 25th April: Dundee and Angus College, Edinburgh College, Glasgow Clyde College, North East Scotland College, West College Scotland
Friday 26th April: Dumfries & Galloway College, Glasgow Kelvin College, UHI Argyll, UHI Perth
Rolling Action Week Three:
Monday 29th April: Ayrshire College, Edinburgh College, Forth Valley College, Newbattle Abbey College, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Tuesday 30th April: Dumfries & Galloway College, Dundee and Angus College, North East Scotland College, UHI Perth, UHI Shetland
Wednesday 1st May: Glasgow Kelvin College, UHI Argyll, UHI Inverness, UHI Moray, West College Scotland
Thursday 2nd May: Borders College, New College Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire College, West Lothian College
Friday 3rd May: City of Glasgow College, Fife College, Glasgow Clyde College, UHI North, West and Hebrides