More strike action at college

FURTHER strike action from lecturers is taking place today (Wednesday) and Thursday, although there is not expected to be too much disruption locally due to the Easter holidays.

It follows a previous one-day strike from EIS-FELA union members last week.

The national strike action is taking place across Scotland due to a dispute in relation to concern over the possible downgrading of lecturer roles to instructor type posts.

EIS-FELA said an agreement had been reached on the dispute, but employers’ group Colleges Scotland had failed to ratify this.

The Colleges Scotland employers association said “both sides agree that there is no national plan to replace lecturers with tutor/assessor/instructor roles, nor any other support staff roles”.

Shetland College said that all day and evening networked classes will be affected.

“Local courses delivered in Shetland are currently on holiday and we anticipate little disruption as a result,” it added.

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“Your course leader or local campus contact will let you know if any of your classes are affected. Click and collect library services will still be available and support services continue to work remotely and will be accessible.

“We are disappointed this strike action is being taken at this difficult time and will try to minimise any impact on students. If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to speak to your course leader or campus contact.”

A Colleges Scotland spokesperson added: “We are still working through one detail of the national role profile with the EIS-FELA, and the employers want to make sure it recognises the complex and professional nature of the role that lecturers undertake.”