Union warns college dispute could return if deal ignored
The EIS teaching union has warned that the bitter college dispute could be back on if college principals renege on the equal pay deal that ended the walkouts.
The dispute, which saw lecturers go on strike earlier this year, was put on hold last week after a new pay scale was agreed that will give unpromoted lecturers an annual salary of just over £40,000.
The deal struck also agreed 23 hours’ teaching time for new staff out of a 35-hour working week. But the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is holding out for 63 days of holiday entitlement for new staff.
Management want reduced to 60 days.
Following a meeting of the EIS-FELA (Further Education Lecturers Association) leadership a request has been made to the union’s executive committee to re-instate the suspended strike action at the beginning of the next academic session if the pay
it elements of the deal are not implemented next month.
However, EIS-FELA said it was committed to future meetings with employers at the national joint negotiating committee to finalise areas of the deal that have still to be agreed.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The EIS met its obligation to immediately suspend the strike action and it is deeply concerned employers have not moved to ‘immediately implement the pay elements’ as was agreed, and have even stated payment may not be made until August.
“This dispute was over the failure of Colleges Scotland to honour a previous deal; lecturers will react with anger at any prospect that college management may yet seek to renege on a further agreement, especially when all parties, including Scottish Government, are agreed that the funding is there to pay for the deal.”
The EIS-FELA executive will meet again in a special meeting on the 16 June 2017 to review progress made on the non-agreed areas with a view to progressing ratification of the May 2017 NJNC Agreement.