Congratulations to FELA on their pay victory

Aberdeen Trades Union Council congratulates the EIS Further Education Lecturer’s Association (FELA) in their pay victory with colleges, as a result of strike action by members.  

The union has now suspended all future strike action.

EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: "Following a further round of talks, we have reached a position where Colleges Scotland have agreed to honour the deal.

"This is a significant victory for EIS Further Education Lecturers' Association (EIS-FELA) members and it means that the employers will move immediately to implement Phase 1 of the March 2016 pay agreement."

Lecturers had taken strike action to make colleges implement the Agreement they signed up to in March 2016.  

This deal agreed equal pay for lecturers across Scotland by 2019, with the first payment due in April 2017, and set out key dates for harmonisation of “Terms & Conditions” across colleges in Scotland – all of which have been missed.  

This Agreement was a consequence of the return to national bargaining after 20 years, and which was promised in the 2011 SNP Manifesto.  Local pay bargaining had led to a £12,000 pay gap for some lecturers in the sector, with differences in terms and conditions.