Scotland’s largest teaching union the EIS has opened a statutory industrial action ballot for lecturers in further education colleges across Scotland.
Commenting on the ballot for industrial action in support of fair pay, Scottish Labour Opportunity spokesperson Iain Gray said:
“No one wants to see industrial action but the SNP’s record on colleges has been abysmal. The promise the SNP Government made to Scotland’s lecturers was national pay scales. Now SNP ministers have waked away from that promise and left colleges without the money to deliver it.
Under the SNP government there are 152,000 fewer students and 3,500 fewer lecturers in Scotland’s colleges whilst they have had to spend £90 million of scarce resources making staff redundant.
Cuts from the SNP budget for the next year will only make this worse. This week Scottish Labour took a simple pledge to the Scottish Parliament – that education should be protected in real terms over the next five years. The SNP voted against our plans.
Faced with the choice of more cuts to education or using the powers of the Scottish Parliament Labour would use the powers and set the Scottish rate of income tax 1 penny higher than George Osborne to stop these cuts.
Scotland’s colleges should be the envy of the world. Everyone, regardless of postcode or privilege, should be able to access the skills they need to get on in life and a thriving further education sector is an absolutely essential part of that.”
“Commenting on the ballot for industrial action in support of fair pay, Scottish Labour Opportunity spokesperson Iain Gray said:”
so the EIS action is being highjacked for political gain by Labour?
odd they have not been so keen to highlight the current EIS industrail action by Secondary teachers against cuts and restructuring imposed by a Labour controlled Local authority on education…..
doesn’t quite fit the image does it?
I’m still waiting for any Labour drone to tell me what courses or skills are missing from our college curriculum? I’m waiting for just one Labour drone to tell me which college is short of student places.
Like I keep having to repeat everytime this despicable bare faced lie is churned out there are more college places in Scotland than there are prospective Scottish students to fill them every year.
No potential Scottish college student is left in the wilderness because there isn’t a course available to them on any subject.
That’s a simple fact that all the Labour lying and despicable fabrication of stats cant hide.
“Faced with the choice of more cuts to education or using the powers of the Scottish Parliament Labour would use the powers and set the Scottish rate of income tax 1 penny higher than George Osborne to stop these cuts.”
This despicable lie can be highlighted by the fact that 1p on the pound of income tax increase will be swallowed up by Scotlands contribution to the Labour party supported Trident renewal.
Scotland 8.4% population share of Trident would amount to 438 million per annum. Labours income tax take less their rebate costs would amount to no more than 390 million a year at most.
So basically what Labour is asking for is a penny for Trident not a penny for education.
Just because the MSM wont highlight these facts doesn’t mean they wont get to the electorate in time to vote.
Is Flee’in Gray advocating a pay rise of 13%?
That is surely unsustainable.
It also adds to the charge that Labour is unfit to exorcise power.