College lecturers hold third strike day

Lecturing staff at a busy college in West Lothian have held a third day of strike action.

Lecturers at Scotland’s Rural University College (SRUC) at Oatridge have been on strike for one day over the past two weeks and took to the picket lines on Tuesday.

The industrial action is in response to a long-running dispute over pay and grading.

Members have already taken two days of strike action, with further strike days planned together with an ongoing programme of action short of striking.

EIS general secretary, Larry Flanagan, said:“Lecturers at SRUC are not taking strike action lightly, but have been left little choice given the intransigence of management and its refusal to negotiate a fair pay offer to members.

“Pay for lecturers at SRUC has fallen significantly behind the norms across both the Further and Higher education sectors and it is time for management to stop procrastinating and pay their lecturers fairly for the work they do.”

“As we enter our third week of industrial action, it is clear that our members remain strong and committed and picket lines will be in place at all SRUC campuses this morning.”

A spokesperson for SRUC said the offer of mediation and for EIS to re-engage remains very much open.

He continued:“We are disappointed by the actions of the EIS leadership. We have made strong progress in these areas and EIS have been involved and consulted every step of the way.

“We encourage the EIS to re-engage with our agreed internal dispute mechanism, including the ongoing offer of external mediation to resolve any specific concerns they may have.

“We are fully committed to a review of pay and grading, which has already started.

“We have made a significant offer to our trade union partners on a pay increase for all employees for 2021/2022.”