Talks to resolve colleges dispute

A teaching union planning strike action in a long-running pay dispute has agreed to talks with a conciliation service.

EIS Scotland agreed to Colleges Scotland’s offer of arbitration through Acas in a bid to resolve the stalemate.

However, the two sides then erupted in a bitter war of words.

Union leaders said college management have failed to deliver on a deal agreed last year but Colleges Scotland insists the deal it has put forward is fair.

It claimed EIS is striking for more holidays and fewer working hours, with the union responding by accusing the body of attempting to “peddle ‘alternative facts”’.

College staff walked out on strike for a day in March 2016 and had more than 30 days of action planned before accepting a revised offer, with staff promised wage rises as well as work between colleges and the union to develop a more “harmonised” pay deal across the workforce.

Lecturers are due to strike on Thursday next week as part of an “escalating” programme of action which the union said is for the implementation of the revised deal agreed last March.

A Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association spokeswoman said: “The EIS needs to show a willingness to compromise. It is striking to get more money for less work when the deal put on the table by employers is not only fair but beneficial as it equates to an average pay rise of 9% for lecturers over the next two years.”

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “It is deeply regrettable that Colleges Scotland continues to rely on an unnamed spokesperson to peddle ‘alternative facts’ about the current ongoing discussions, the EIS position and the March 2016 NJNC agreement.”