COLLEGE STAFF PAY: GREENS SUPPORT LECTURERS IN DISPUTE
Isla O'Reilly, Scottish Green Party spokesperson on Education and MSP candidate for the Highlands & Islands, has called on the Scottish Government to step in and stop a forced pay deal being imposed on college lecturers.
O'Reilly said the Scottish Greens will support the Educational Institute of Scotland's (EIS) action to resist the pay award imposed by Colleges Scotland.The EIS has said it will commence a statutory ballot for industrial action in pursuit of equal pay in the college sector, and the EIS-FELA Executive will discuss final ballot arrangements at its meeting on Friday 5 February.
O'Reilly highlighted that following a national bargaining process with all parties involved was crucial to supporting college lecturers and rebuilding trust between management and staff after years of cuts in the Further Education sector.
Isla O'Reilly said:
"College management are playing with fire when they start to undermine the trust of their staff in this way. Lecturers, who are the backbone of our further education system, have been stretched incredibly thin in recent years, and we must give them our support.
“The Scottish Greens believe that for our colleges to keep providing high quality education, staff have to be properly supported to do their jobs. With the mounting pressure on wages and crumbling trust between workers and management, disregarding the national bargaining process is simply unacceptable. “It’s time for the Scottish Government to take responsibility over the hard-working staff who run our colleges. I urge Angela Constance to step in and ensure that college leadership gets back around the table and a fairer pay deal is agreed on by all parties involved.”