Learners are “deeply disappointed” that some colleges might be replacing lecturers with less qualified teaching staff, and the disruption caused by the resulting dispute represents a “major blow”, the NUS students’ union has said.
The union made its comments as lecturers take strike action today after saying that college managers failed to ratify an agreement reached by the National Joint Negotiating Committee - the committee made up of staff and management representatives that negotiates pay and conditions for FE colleges in Scotland.
Matt Crilly, NUS Scotland president, said: “College students have had a raw deal this year, so it comes as a major blow that college management has walked away from a joint agreement, causing thousands more students to be disrupted by strike action.
“NUS Scotland shares the concerns raised by EIS-FELA [the further education lecturers’ union] and are deeply disappointed by the moves of some colleges to replace our lecturers with less qualified instructor assessors, which undoubtedly will lead to a cut to the quality of our education.
“When some college students are already at risk of not completing their courses this year, we need college bosses to put students and staff first, return to the joint agreement and avoid even more disruption to our learning.”
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College lecturers across Scotland will take strike action today in a dispute over what they say is the replacement of lecturers with poorer-paid, lower-qualified staff. A previous day of strike action, planned for last week, was called off following an agreement predicated on a proposal from employers’ group Colleges Scotland. EIS-FELA said it then ratified the agreement, but Colleges Scotland did not do so.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “I have been involved in many negotiations over my years as a trade unionist, but rarely have I seen anything more bizarre than an employer failing to ratify an agreement largely based on its own proposals. This is exactly what the employers’ body Colleges Scotland has done this week. The agreement struck last week, through the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC), incorporated proposals that came from Colleges Scotland itself.
“Following the agreement, the EIS agreed to suspend the planned EIS-FELA strike action to allow both sides to formally ratify the NJNC agreement through their own structures. EIS-FELA duly ratified the agreement, only to then find that Colleges Scotland was now refusing to do likewise - with the management side effectively rejecting its own proposals.”
He added: “Having shown good faith in suspending the strike action and ratifying the agreement, our EIS-FELA members are outraged at the duplicity displayed by Colleges Scotland. Lecturers do not want to strike but are taking a stand in defence of lecturing jobs and high standards of teaching across the Scottish further education sector.”
College strike action ‘extremely disappointing’
Colleges Scotland chief executive Shona Struthers said the strike action was “extremely disappointing” after what has already been a very difficult and challenging year for staff and students across Scotland.
“The EIS-FELA is taking unnecessary industrial action at a critical time when there is a need for stability and certainty within the sector as we deal with the impact of the pandemic,” she said. “The EIS-FELA has accepted that there is no national plan to replace lecturers with tutor/assessor/instructor roles, nor any other support staff roles, yet have still pressed ahead with strike action.
“It appears that the EIS-FELA has not considered the impact that strike action will have on students who are trying to complete their courses by the end of the academic year in the midst of lockdown restrictions and risk having their learning further compromised by needless industrial action.”
She said college leaders were still working through one detail of an agreement with EIS-FELA, and employers wanted to make sure that it recognised the complex and professional nature of the role that lecturers undertake.
“We also need to be confident that, in reaching a resolution, we don’t agree a solution that could impact adversely on staff not within the scope of EIS-FELA; ie, support staff,” said Ms Struthers. “As employers, colleges have a duty of care to all staff. The employers’ representatives are meeting with the EIS-FELA early next week to continue discussions.”
