Lecturers at Forth Valley College set to strike again as long running pay dispute continues

A meeting of the Emergency Committee of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has agreed six more days of strike action over a two week period as a long-running dispute over pay in Scotland’s colleges continues.

The news comes after a recent re-ballot of members of the EIS Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) demonstrated a continuing strong commitment among Scotland’s Further Education lecturers to take industrial action in pursuit of a long-overdue pay settlement.

The planned additional six days of strike action at colleges across Scotland, including at Forth Valley College, will take place on Tuesday, August 20; Wednesday, August 21; Thursday, August 22; Tuesday, August 27; Thursday, August 29 and Friday, August 30.

Andrea Bradley, EIS General Secretary, said: “Our members continue to stand firm in displaying their strong and unwavering commitment to industrial action in pursuit of a fair pay settlement from college employers.

"Scotland’s FE lecturers have not had a pay increase since September 2021 and, for the past three years, have had to endure a sharp decline in the real-terms value of their salaries throughout the worst cost-of-living crisis in living memory.”

Kenny MacInnes, principal of Forth Valley College said it is “disappointing” EIS-FELA has set the new dates for industrial action in relation to the ongoing national dispute.

He said: “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.”

As well as the strike days, members of EIS-FELA have been taking part in action short of strike action (ASOS), which involves continuing to work but withdrawing some of their labour such as refusing to mark students’ work.

Mr MacInnes added: “EIS-FELA have 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.

"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.”