College Workers Dispute

That the Parliament notes reports that members of the EIS Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) have voted for strike action; understands that 80% of UNISON members at Scotland’s colleges have also voted to move to a strike ballot, including at colleges in the West Scotland region; further understands that Colleges Scotland has put forward a consolidated award of £850, as well as a £150 one-off payment to express gratitude for staff efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that this constitutes a real-terms decrease in pay; believes that industrial relations in the sector have deteriorated to an unacceptable level; understands that, since 2014, there have been disputes around equal pay, common conditions of service, transfer to permanent status for staff on insecure contracts, annual pay agreements, so-called fire and rehire policies, and discipline and grievance procedures and policies; notes the view that the colleges sector in Scotland has been underfunded, with Colleges Scotland reportedly estimating a real-terms reduction in the college budget of £51.9 million for 2022-23; further notes the view that the Scottish Government should come forward with a financial rescue package to support the sector; believes that real-terms cuts mean that college budgets are not keeping pace with staffing costs, and that real-terms staff pay is not keeping pace with inflation amidst a cost of living crisis; acknowledges what it sees as the extraordinary work of college staff during the pandemic, which it understands has included delivering both online and on-campus services to students, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to intervene and ensure that all college staff are awarded a real-terms increase in pay for 2022-23.