Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 26 Mehefin 2024.
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take regarding the on-going Fife College staff pay dispute. (S6O-03642)
I appreciate that the on-going industrial action at Fife College will be of particular importance to the member and his constituents. Continued industrial action is in no-one’s interests, and I continue to actively urge the employers and the Educational Institute of Scotland Further Education Lecturers Association to work collaboratively to find a resolution to the dispute as a matter of priority. Formal talks last Friday saw movement on the part of the union. I understand that further informal discussions have continued since.
I believe that there is a genuine desire on all sides to end the present dispute. I understand that lecturers at Fife College have been warned that their wages might be docked in response to on-going industrial action. Does the minister agree that that is not in the spirit of the National Joint Negotiation Committee? Will he urge the college management to reconsider such actions?
I assume that the docking that Mr Torrance refers to is what is known as deeming and relates to a particular aspect of the industrial action—namely, the refusal of some lecturers to upload the marks of students, thereby impeding their progression. As the issue concerns the fulfilling of contractual requirements, it is a local rather than a national matter, as evidenced by the fact that one college is not resorting to deeming, and some others are taking localised approaches.
As I have said before, however, the work of students going unmarked and the response of colleges to that is detrimental to the interests of learners and represents an unhelpful escalation in the dispute. Employers and trade unions must work together to find a way to suspend that element of action short of striking and remove the threat of deeming, not only to take students out of the firing line but to create a better atmosphere in which to try and resolve the wider dispute.
As an aside, I recently met college chairs groups, and I emphasised the importance of their role in seeking to improve employee relations in their colleges. The decision to dock pay is a significant one; as significant is the decision to pursue a marking boycott. I would expect all relevant college boards to be involved in the approval of the suggested approach, particularly in relation to proportionality.
I have a number of supplementary questions, and I will take that of Martin Whitfield. I would caution you, Mr Whitfield, that your question is to be supplementary to the question in the Business Bulletin, which relates to the on-going Fife College staff pay dispute.
I am grateful for your guidance, Deputy Presiding Officer. As the minister has said, the approach that we are discussing has been taken not just in Fife but more widely. Does the minister feel that the approach that has been taken by Fife College, and indeed other colleges, with a battle over legal advice, displays an appropriate tone at this moment in the dispute? Is calling out and docking pay in essence the best way to pursue a settlement, rather than the objective of sitting round the table and discussing the matter?
As Mr Whitfield knows, one side in an industrial dispute does something, the other side reacts and the situation escalates thereafter. I do not think that either course of action—either the one that prompted the steps that have been taken or the reaction to it—has been in any way helpful for resolving the dispute. As I said in an earlier response, it does not matter which order things are done in: both sides should get together, park this matter and get on with resolving the dispute.
Question 7 has been withdrawn.