College lecturers to walk out again

A two-day college strike will take place this week as lecturers step up their pay dispute.

Staff at the Shetland College will form a picket line outside the Gremista premises on Wednesday and Thursday (15th and 16th of May) after a revised pay offer was rejected by the EIS-FELA union.

A planned strike for last Wednesday had been called off as a “gesture of goodwill” and “recognition that progress had been made” in the negotiations.

But although the revised pay offer was “improved”, EIS-FELA branch secretary Andrew Anderson said it “fell short” of the fair cost of living pay claim that EIS-FELA had been looking for.

As such, lecturers had been “left with no option” but to continue with their strike action and withdraw their gesture of goodwill, Mr Anderson added.

“This is not what we want to be doing”.

Mr Anderson said he was “particularly concerned” that main body Colleges Scotland had failed to resolve the dispute when they had the opportunity last Thursday.

The strikes were having an “ongoing negative impact on students” at the Shetland College, he said.

This strike action follows similar lecturer walk-outs in January, February and March.