THE DISPUTE between Alloa college lecturers and management over the introduction of a new role continues after talks broke down last month.

Lecturers in the EIS-FELA union had been taking forward action short of strike as part of an ongoing dispute over the introduction of instructor assessor posts at Forth Valley College – as previously reported.

The two sides recently met in a bid to resolve the dispute, however, lecturers could soon escalate industrial action to a proper strike.

Speaking of the meeting on Wednesday, January 20, the college's vice principal Kenny MacInnes said he was “hopeful” dispute could be concluded at the meeting.

Anne-Marie Harley, speaking on behalf of the EIS-FELA Forth Valley branch, told the Advertiser lecturers were also hopeful as management indicated they had a proposal to share.

She said: “During the meeting, a proposal was read out to us but, when a request was made to actually see the paper this was denied.

“We asked them to consider coming to a collective understanding on the areas of agreement with a view to working collaboratively on the areas of disagreement.

“After a short adjournment, the employers returned to inform us that they would not consider seeking a collective agreement, because they had received the letter from EIS-FELA, which is a legal requirement, that we would be moving to a statutory ballot for strike action.

“The employers had been advised verbally, and in writing, that this would be the case and, it should have come as no surprise that formal notification would be sent.

“If a solution is found, we would be delighted to avoid strike action.”

Vice principal MacInnes said: “During the meeting we were sent information from EIS headquarters to state EIS-FELA had initiated the first step towards full strike action.

“This clearly demonstrated a lack of desire to take forward any negotiation.”

He said the college has been “clear” about not removing the “successfully operating” role and previously sought to give “realistic and fair solutions” to staff.

Mr MacInnes also said it was time to “see movement from EIS-FELA on the acceptance of the role before we return to the table”.

He added: “To date this has not been the case, therefore, management have now concluded discussions with a failure to agree.”

However, Ms Harley said: “When we have asked them to provide concrete evidence of this, we have been told there has been no negative feedback.

“We have clear evidence that this is not working for our members and is, in fact affecting their wellbeing.

“Despite the college's claim to be supporting health and wellbeing, they are now refusing to hear our members’ concerns through the college procedures.

“The employers have stated a ‘failure to agree’, whilst EIS-FELA formally stated a willingness to keep talking.

“Since then, further attempts have been made to bring the employers back to the table. Not only have these attempts been rejected, but they have now said that they will not speak to us unless we agree that the new role of instructor assessor is here to stay.

“We remain open to unconditional talks.”