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What action is planned and when?

 

EIS have announced strike days on:

  • Tuesday 26th & Wednesday 27th April
  • Wednesday 4th & Thursday 5th May
  • Tuesday 10th, Wednesday 11th, & Thursday 12th May (2 of the 3 days have been suspended by EIS)
  • Tuesday 17th, Wednesday 18th, & Thursday 19th May (2 of the 3 days have been suspended by EIS)
  • Tuesday 24th, Wednesday 25th & Thursday 26th May (2 of the 3 days have been suspended by EIS)
  • Monday 30th May & Wednesday 1st June (both days have been suspended by EIS)
  • Tuesday 7th & Thursday 9th June (both days have been suspended by EIS)
  • Monday 13t, Wednesday 15th & Friday 17th June (all days have been suspended by EIS)
  • Tuesday 21st, Thursday 23rd & Friday 24th June
  • Monday 27th, Tuesday 28th & Wednesday 29th June

They are also now conducting “Action Short of a Strike”, which will include a "resulting boycott".

Find out the latest news on the College Website

 

What is a “Resulting Boycott”?

Part of the “Action short of a strike” will be in the form of not uploading student assessment results.

EIS have said that they will continue to ensure that:

  • assessments are set
  • assessments are marked 
  • outcomes of assessments are fed back to students in the normal way (verbal/written)

However, crucially, they will not formally upload these results to the College systems, which means that results cannot be officially verified and certificated.

 

What does all of this mean for me?

As the national dispute continues, strike action and “action short of a strike” will undoubtedly have an impact on you as we move towards exam season. 

Full details on the arrangements for each of the strike days will be published by the College nearer the time, but, please be assured that ECSA are working closely with the College to minimise disruption to your studies, particularly during the exam period. No bursary or other student support payments will be impacted as a result of lecturers being on strike.

All scheduled examinations will take place on the dates they are set for, even if they fall on strike days, so you should expect to be prepared for your assessments as normal. If you are scheduled to be on placement on a strike day, you should attend as normal. All College campuses will continue to be open on strike days and all support departments will be open as normal.

The College are working closely with Scottish universities to ensure that Edinburgh College students who are applying to University are not disadvantaged. 

To make sure you don't miss out on the most up to date information, make sure you check your college e-maill account daily, keep up to date on their website, and follow the College's social media channels:

 

What is the dispute about anyway?

This is a national dispute across all Colleges in Scotland. Representatives of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) negotiate on behalf of Lecturers on pay and conditions at a national level. They negotiate with representatives from the Colleges Employers Scotland to agree and implement pay & conditions for College staff in Scotland. This is called the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC).

Despite more than 10 negotiation meetings taking place, no agreement has been met and members of EIS have rejected the latest 'final' pay offer. Furthermore, they have voted to take strike action (80% in favour) and "Action Short of a Strike" (70% in favour). 

  • EIS are seeking £1300 pay increase for all lecturing staff.
  • College Employers Scotland have offered £850, plus a £150 one-off 'thank you' payment to all lecturing staff.

EIS claim lecturers deserve a pay rise due to the increasing cost of living and the efforts they have made to keep courses running throughout the pandemic. College Employers Scotland claim that they have offered as much as they can afford and are already facing more than £5m deficit this academic year.

 

What do ECSA think about all of this?

Students have already been through enough throughout this academic year and beyond. They do not deserve to lose out any more. ECSA will work with all partners to push for a speedy end to this dispute and avoid dumping unnessecary stress & anxiety on students who have done nothing less than an incredible job to achieve, despite everything that has been thrown at them. 

We fully respect the efforts made by everyone, including lecturers, to keep colleges running throughout the pandemic, and hope that a fair resolution to this dispute can be achieved sooner, rather than later, as we enter a critical stage in the academic year for students.

We do not want our lecturers to feel as if they have to not come to work or not result students to make their point. ECSA does not want students to bear the brunt of a dispute which has nothing to do with them. We strongly encourage both EIS and College Employers Scotland to put students first and get back round the negotiating table to find a solution as soon as possible.

At a local level, ECSA will continue to work with colleagues across the institution and beyond to get as much information as possible to help keep students up to date as this action goes on. We will also support students where they feel disproportionately disadvantaged by this action to make sure they are treated fairly. If any student has a question that hasn't been asnwered, wants some advice, or just wants to talk about what this action means for them, we urge them to get in touch and we will do our best to help.