Scotland’s college lecturers have voted in favour of strike action over what they say are plans by some institutions to replace lecturer posts with lower-paid trainer or assessor positions.
The Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA), which represents teaching staff in Scottish colleges, announced in a Tweet today that 90 per cent of members who had voted in favour of strike action: “Their message is clear: lecturers should not be replaced by trainer/assessor roles.”
According to EIS-FELA, 92 per cent of members voted in favour of strike action to protect lecturing jobs, on a turnout of 60 per cent.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said lecturers had sent a very strong message to their employers: “Our members will not accept the continuing threat from colleges to remove lecturing jobs and replace them with lower qualified, and more poorly paid, posts.”
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Mr Flanagan added: “The EIS is clear that colleges seeking to cut lecturing jobs in this way, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, is simply unacceptable and must be stopped. Education remains key to successful recovery from the impact of the pandemic, and lecturers are essential to the delivery of a quality learning experience for Scotland’s college students.”
The EIS general secretary said the union’s emergency committee would consider the ballot result next week, and determine the next steps to be taken. “In the meantime, the EIS remains committed to ongoing discussions with college employers, in the hope that strike action may yet be avoided.”
Following the reintroduction of national bargaining a few years ago and subsequent pay deals, lecturers are now placed on a pay scale that will soon see all of them earning over £40k - significantly more than lecturers at colleges elsewhere in the UK. That scale does not apply to other teaching staff.
A number of Scottish colleges have battled significant financial challenges, and last year, Scottish Funding Council chief executive Karen Watt told a parliamentary committee the sector had lost funds as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesperson for Colleges Scotland said the action taken by EIS-FELA was “extremely disappointing” after what had already been “a very difficult and challenging year for staff and students across Scotland”.
“The EIS-FELA is taking its members down the route of 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. 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 pushed forward with the ballot and the threat of industrial action.
“Tutor/assessor/instructor roles are not new to the college sector; they have been in place within colleges across Scotland for a considerable number of years to deliver a diverse curriculum which best suits the needs of the learner and the subject matter being taught. The college sector is not unique in using a variety of different roles to deliver their services. Different sectors and professionals also have a range of support staff roles which are required such as teachers and classroom assistants, solicitors and paralegals, nurses and nursing assistants.”
The spokesperson added: “All roles, whether they be lecturing or support staff, are equally valuable and necessary to deliver the best learner experience and for the effective running of colleges. Each role is distinct and plays its own part in the successful operation of colleges.
“We are continuing talks with the EIS-FELA, and have agreed to meet again week commencing 1 March, in the hope that we can reach a resolution and avoid any further unnecessary disruption for students.”
Earlier this week, the University and College Union said it had written to Northern Ireland minister for the economy Diane Dodds to declare a dispute between its members and the minister’s department.
The union, which represents lecturers in Northern Ireland, said this is the latest in a series of escalations by the UCU to secure an increase in pay for college lecturers. Northern Ireland’s further education colleges offered lecturers a pay increase of 7 per cent over the next four years - which, the UCU said, amounted to an annual pay rise of just 1.2 per cent over a nine-year period and a real-terms pay cut.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “On top of their usual vital work, our members in colleges across Northern Ireland have worked flat out to support students throughout the pandemic. They deserve fair pay just as much as school teachers and NHS staff. Further education is absolutely central to society under any circumstances, but it will be even more crucial as we recover from Covid and face the challenges of a post-Brexit economy. Yet since 2013-14, college lecturers have received a measly 3.8 per cent pay rise, compared with 11.25 per cent for schoolteachers over the same period.
“There is no excuse for our further education members continuing to receive such low pay compared with the rest of the education sector. The refusal of minister Diane Dodds and the Department for the Economy to intervene to secure more funding for colleges and a proper pay rise for college lecturers suggests they do not appreciate the value of FE. If these unfair pay levels continue, staff will be driven out of the sector. Unless the minister moves to address the situation, including making representations to the Department of Finance, we will ballot our members for industrial action.”
