Extra £2 m to help end bitter college dispute
AN extra £2million has been earmarked for the college sector to help prevent a new round of strikes.
Fresh industrial action appeared likely after unions were told not all institutions could afford a recently agreed pay deal.
Now the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has written to Colleges Scotland, which represents management, offering the additional cash.
The move was welcomed by the body, but a spokeswoman said uncertainty over the national roll-out of the pay deal would remain until individual college boards had time to discuss the issue.
She said: “The extra money is a welcome recognition of the fact that the backdated element of the pay deal was not covered by existing funding.
“We are very keen to ratify the agreement, but college boards across Scotland are currently holding emergency meetings to discuss the affordability at local level and that process has to be concluded first.”
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, teaching union called for a swift resolution.
He said: “The EIS would wel- come any intervention from the Scottish Government to persuade college management to honour the deal in order to avoid further industrial action.”
The EIS suspended industrial action last month after an agreement with Colleges Scotland which should have led to the first payment of a new salary scale which will eventually see unpromoted lecturers earn £40,000.
However, this week it emerged that union negotiators say they have been told some colleges cannot afford the increases.
Colleges Scotland said £4.6m had been provided by the Scottish Government, but because the sector was in such a difficult financial situation many institutions would struggle to honour the payments.
The row centres on a commitment by the government to introduce harmonisation across the country after decades of different pay and conditions in different colleges as a result of local bargaining.
As a result, a new pay structure was agreed last year and should now be being implemented.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “It is important that a settlement is reached quickly on outstanding issues. To that end, both sides need to continue to work constructively for an early solution.”
She added: “The move to national bargaining is a significant step forward and we now want to see colleges and unions working together to implement it.
“There will clearly be cost implications of any agreement which the Scottish Government will seek to reflect in future budget settlements.”