Lecturers at Fife College start three days of targeted strikes in dispute over pay

Lecturers at Fife College start three days of strikes today in a long-running dispute over pay and job security.

Staff have set up today's picket line outside the Halbeath campus with all three college campuses open all week as normal.

The action's targeted to three parts of Scotland and the college's in each - Dundee, Fife and Glasgow.

Fife's home to education secretary Jenny Gilruth, whilst Glasgow is the constituency for First Minister Humza Yousaf and Dundee the one for deputy first minister and minister for further education Shona Robison.

EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley has written to the First Minister, and copies of the letter will be hand-delivered to his constituency office, official residence and the Scottish Parliament over the 3-days of dispute. Copies of the letter will also be delivered to the other two ministers.

Members of union EIS have been taking industrial action short of striking since May, and began striking a month ago.

It says the latest pay offer could cost over 400 lecturing jobs and there's been no progress to an improved offer.

In her letter Angela says: "I am writing to you on behalf of the EIS-Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA), who represent Scotland’s college lecturer workforce and are currently engaged in national strike action for fair pay and job security… Audit Scotland recently published a report, on the same day that national EIS-FELA strike action began, that cited a real terms cut of 8.5% in college funding since 2021.

"This reduction seriously compounds the impact of the previous years of chronic underfunding, leaving the Further Education sector facing a deepening crisis. This crisis can no longer be ignored by the Scottish Government and its share of the responsibility can no longer be ignored or denied.

"As you will no doubt be aware, colleges are public sector institutions and the Scottish Government is responsible, to the Scottish Parliament, for their governance and operation. To continue to allow the abandonment of the Scottish Government’s own ‘no public sector redundancy’ policy in the Further Education sector is nothing short of a betrayal of hard-working staff in colleges throughout the country and sets a concerning precedent for the rest of Scotland’s public sector.

"We believe it imperative that you as First Minister now intervene to ensure that public sector jobs are fully protected within the FE sector and that lecturers (and support staff colleagues) receive a satisfactory pay award- one that is now more than a year late. More than a year overdue in the midst of the worst cost of living crisis in 70 years."

A spokesperson for Fife College says: "We respect our colleagues’ right to strike, and we look forward to this situation being resolved quickly so that we can focus on delivering outstanding education for all Fife College students."