NEWS... Teachers Turning the Tide: Promoting Anti-Racist Education This special EIS event, Teachers Turning the Tide: Promoting Anti-Racist Education and Challenging Anti-Muslim Prejudice, took place on 29th September 2018. Keynote speakers at the event included: Anas Sarwar MSP, Convener of the Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Group on Tackling Islamophobia; Martin Lennon, Education Worker with Show Racism the Red Card Scotland; and Larry Flanagan, EIS General Secretary. The event marked the official launch of two new EIS anti-racist publications – a Briefing on Anti-Racist Education and Guidance on Challenging Anti-Muslim Prejudice. A full report of the event is currently being produced, and will be available from the Equality Department.
Photo: Ian Marshall
Lecturers Vote Overwhelmingly to Reject Pay Offer Members of EIS-FELA have voted overwhelmingly to reject the terms of a cost of living pay offer. The pay offer, equivalent to a 2.5% consolidated uplift for lecturers over a threeyear period, would result in a real terms pay cut for Scottish FE lecturers and effectively would impose a pay cap on lecturers at a time when the Scottish Government is lifting the cap for the rest of the public sector. The EIS-FELA Executive had agreed in August to a consultative ballot of its members, with a recommendation that they should reject the offer. The ballot, which closed on 26th September, saw a 60% turn-out with 90% of members who voted, supporting the recommendation of the Executive.
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The Scottish Educational Journal
This vote is an overwhelming rejection of the pay offer and signifies the strength of feeling of our members. This dispute is about a cost of living pay rise and ensuring that lecturers’ pay keeps up with inflation. At a time when the sector would benefit from stability, it is regrettable that Management are conflating the provision of equal pay across the sector with a cost of living pay increase, creating a barrier to further negotiation. We hope that this clear rejection by lecturers will cause Management to think again and return with an improved offer, avoiding the risk of industrial action in our colleges. EIS-FELA President, Pam Currie said, “The Scottish Government recently
acknowledged that ‘the quality of learning at colleges has never been higher’ and that this has a direct impact on better outcomes for students and the Scottish economy as a whole.” “Lecturers play a pivotal role in delivering improved life chances, generating a more skilled workforce and addressing inequality in society. They deserve a cost of living pay settlement which reflects both the rising cost of living and the work undertaken by them in an everchanging sector.”