NUS Scotland President Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan: ‘This victory shows the power in students and workers standing together’
NUS Scotland has today welcomed the announcement that an overwhelming majority of college lecturers in EIS-FELA (EIS Further Education Lecturers’ Association) have voted to accept an improved pay offer from college employers, thereby ending the long ongoing industrial action in Scotland’s colleges.
They have called for the Scottish Government to properly and sustainably fund colleges in the long term and end the yearly cycle of further education cuts.
Commenting, NUS Scotland President Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan said:
“College lecturers in EIS-FELA should be proud of what they have achieved in winning this new pay offer and securing stability for colleges this year and next.
Our education relies on the invaluable service education workers provide, their working conditions are our learning conditions. Without fair compensation for workers Scotland’s education sector and students will never thrive. That is why Scotland’s student movement was proud to stand in support of EIS-FELA members.
It is welcome that the Scottish Government finally sat down with College Employers Scotland and EIS-FELA and offered additional funding to allow a workable pay deal to end this dispute, but it is shameful that it took them so long to act for students and workers.
In the last decade, Scotland’s colleges have had more years with industrial disputes than without and ultimately this is down to systematic underfunding and real terms cuts to college budgets year after year. The Scottish Government must stop undervaluing education institutions which disproportionately serve the working class and properly and sustainably fund colleges in the long term.”
