Members' Business — S6M-12540 Richard Leonard: Supporting the Further Education Workforce

That the Parliament recognises that members of the EIS-FELA, including those in the Central Scotland region, have been engaged in industrial action in pursuit of a fair pay settlement; understands that this began with action short of a strike, but that it has escalated to taking strike action in the face of a pay offer from College Employers Scotland that is reportedly below the current rate of inflation, and therefore a real-terms pay reduction; further understands that the pay offer is below the Scottish Government's public sector pay policy; regrets reports that Scotland’s further education lecturers last received a pay uplift in August 2021, and that they should have received a pay rise in August 2022, but are still waiting for an acceptable offer from college employers a year and a half later; believes that management in some colleges have taken draconian action, outwith the spirit of the Fair Work Framework, including pay deductions for action short of strike, and notes the calls for the Scottish Government to intervene, as it has in other public sector pay disputes, to ensure that workers in the further education sector receive a fair pay settlement that properly reflects what it sees as the invaluable work that they do.