Staff begin strike action at Forth Valley College

All Forth Valley College classes will be cancelled today, as 14 days of industrial action begin.

It's taking place due to ongoing national pay disputes.

Today is the first of three strike days taking place this month, with the other 11 coming in May.

Forth Valley College say they're aiming to minimise disruption - and are urging students to find out if their department is making "special arrangements" to run classes today.

Commenting, EIS General Secretary, Larry Flanagan, said “Over the course of the COVID 19 pandemic thus far, college lecturers have stood up and delivered for students. They have gone above and beyond in ensuring that those who attend college, to gain the skills and qualifications they need, have continued to receive high standards of teaching and learning. They have done this despite an EIS survey showing EIS-FELA members experiencing rising levels of stress and workload, while many college lecturers have received no wellbeing check in from their employers.

Mr Flanagan added, “Words of gratitude, and a pay offer that does not begin to address the pressures on the cost of living, are not enough. Since the advent of national bargaining, there has been only one occasion in which college employers have made an acceptable pay award, without EIS-FELA members taking industrial action. The EIS urges the Employers’ side of the NJNC to buck this trend and accept EIS-FELA’s offer of further negotiations and to return to the table with a pay offer that avoids unnecessary and wholly avoidable industrial action in the FE sector.”

Professor Ken Thomson OBE, Principal of Forth Valley College, said: “For 2021/22, EIS-FELA have rejected a £850 pay offer, consolidated on all pay points and a one-off £200 non-consolidated payment.  

“The college sector is already facing significant challenges in the months to come due to funding cuts and the implications these may have. Along with others, we are also focusing on recovery following the pandemic and the affect this has had on the sector. Our students have already had to overcome so much over the past two years. The proposed action including strike days, working to rule and a resulting boycott, could potentially have a serious detrimental effect for these students in progressing their qualifications and their future opportunities."