A programme of rolling strikes will hit every college in Scotland as lecturers escalate a dispute over pay.

Members of the EIS-FELA union have been engaged in action short of a strike since February, with a national strike on the 29th of that month.

The union has been in dispute with College Employers Scotland since August 2022, rejecting offers which the union says are below inflation and below public sector pay policy.

After targeted rolling strikes in the constituencies of Scottish Government Ministers including the Minister for Higher and Further Education, Graeme Dey, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Jenny Gilruth, and the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, rolling walkouts will now take place across the country in April.

The EIS-FELA said: "College lecturers should have received a pay uplift at the beginning of September 2022 but following over a year of protracted negotiations, College Employers Scotland have stated that all they can provide is a ‘full and final’ pay offer of £5,000 over three years, this amidst the worst cost of living crisis in generations.

"For many EIS FELA members, the amount of money tabled in the second and third years of this offer sit below the levels of cost of living pay awards set by current public sector pay policy.

"The EIS-FELA does not accept that their members should be treated any differently to any other public sector worker and are simply seeking a pay offer which is reflective of their public sector status and their professional role in education."

Gavin Donoghue, director of College Employers Scotland, said: “Despite unprecedented financial pressures, colleges have put forward the substantial offer of a £5,000 consolidated pay rise for all staff over three academic years.

"If accepted by trade unions, the offer would keep college lecturers in Scotland as the UK’s best paid. For support staff, the same offer would mean an average pay rise of nearly 16% from September this year.”

Strike dates for colleges

 

Tuesday 16th April: City of Glasgow College, Glasgow Clyde College & Glasgow Kelvin College

Wednesday 17th April: Borders College, Dumfries & Galloway College, Dundee and Angus College, Edinburgh College, Fife College, Newbattle Abbey College, North East Scotland College, West Lothian College

Thursday 18th April: Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, UHI Argyll, UHI Inverness, UHI Moray, UHI Perth, UHI Shetland, UHI North, West and Hebrides

Friday 19th April: Ayrshire College, Forth Valley College, New College Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire College, West College Scotland

Monday 22nd April: Borders College, City of Glasgow College, UHI Inverness, UHI North, West and Hebrides

Tuesday 23rd April: Fife College, New College Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire College, UHI Moray, West Lothian College

Wednesday 24th April: Ayrshire College, Forth Valley College, Newbattle Abbey College, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, UHI Shetland

Thursday 25th April: Dundee and Angus College, Edinburgh College, Glasgow Clyde College, North East Scotland College, West College Scotland

Friday 26th April: Dumfries & Galloway College, Glasgow Kelvin College, UHI Argyll, UHI Perth

Monday 29th April: Ayrshire College, Edinburgh College, Forth Valley College, Newbattle Abbey College, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig

Tuesday 30th April: Dumfries & Galloway College, Dundee and Angus College, North East Scotland College, UHI Perth, UHI Shetland

Wednesday 1st May: Glasgow Kelvin College, UHI Argyll, UHI Inverness, UHI Moray, West College Scotland

Thursday 2nd May: Borders College, New College Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire College, West Lothian College

Friday 3rd May: City of Glasgow College, Fife College, Glasgow Clyde College, UHI North, West and Hebrides