THE start of term at Forth Valley College will be disrupted with lecturers taking part in additional industrial action.

An emergency committee meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has set out a further six days of strikes as part of a long-running pay dispute.

Lecturers across Scotland’s colleges will walk out from Tuesday, August 20 to Thursday, August 22, with further strike days to go ahead the week after on Tuesday, August 27 and from Thursday, August 29 to Friday, August 30.

Anne-Marie Harley, EIS-FELA president, said: “This is a national dispute regarding pay and the protection of jobs.

“It relates to lecturing staff who have not received a cost of living pay increase since 2021. The offer on the table is far below what other sectors received in during the worst cost of living crisis.

“College Employers Scotland (CES) have refused to move beyond 3 per cent for the fourth year of the proposed deal.

“EIS-FELA Union met with CES on Friday, August 9 but there was no new offer made. FELA remain willing to negotiate and will be happy to meet at any time should they wish to negotiate with us.

“This is not a situation lecturers want, but we have been forces into this position by our employers and the Scottish Government.”

Forth Valley College lecturers staged a strike in June, walking out of their work and protesting outside the Alloa campus.

The group had also outlined fears that a pay rise would come at the cost of redundancies, which EIS-FELA wanted to avoid.

The CES, who are responsible for setting the pay for lecturers across Scotland, insisted that this would be the final offer.

Gavin Donoghue, director of College Employers Scotland, said: “It is deeply regrettable that the EIS-FELA is planning yet more strikes at the start of the academic year, on top of the continuing resulting boycott.

“College Employers Scotland has proposed a four-year pay award worth an average of almost £6,500 and which keeps Scotland’s college lecturers as the best paid in the UK.

“The employers’ offer would deliver substantial salary increases for staff, with the starting salary of a college lecturer rising to more than £41,000 from September next year.

“Given the perilous state of the college sector’s finances, further strikes from the EIS-FELA will not result in an improvement to the already substantial pay proposals from employers.

“Colleges strongly urge the EIS-FELA to call off these new strikes, and their resulting boycott, so as not to damage the chances of students at the start of their learner journey or those who are seeking to move on to positive destinations.”

Forth Valley College expressed their disappointment that EIS-FELA were pursuing further strike dates.

Kenny MacInnes, FVC principal, expressed concern for the impact these strikes would have on students, many of whom would be starting college for the first time.

He said: “We are disappointed to learn of these new dates for industrial action from EIS-FELA in relation to an ongoing national dispute.

“This time of year is always a crucial period as new students are starting college for the first time and others are returning to continue their studies, and there will be concerns over the impact this will have on them.

“Our aim, as always, will be to minimise the impact on learning and teaching wherever possible and to do everything we can to ensure the start of the academic year is as stress free as possible.”

In addition to full strike days, members of EIS-FELA have also been participating in Action Short of Strike (ASOS).

ASOS includes continuing to work, but withdrawing some of their labour – in this case, refusing to mark pupils’ work or hand out grades.

Mr MacInnes added: “EIS-FELA also have made a further mandate to take industrial action short of strike action and as a result, they have been asking members to undertake a programme of ASOS in the first instance from Monday, August 5, 2024.

“We understand how challenging this situation is and would encourage students to reach out if they need support.

“We sincerely hope a resolution can be found soon but will continue to keep our students, staff and partners updated as required.”