This new term, the stakes have never been higher as Scotland's colleges sit on the brink of disaster

Across the length and breadth of Scotland, college lecturers are being forced into continuing industrial action, including a results boycott and a strict work-to-contract approach. With the threat of additional strikes looming, the situation has reached a boiling point.

The last academic year ended in chaos, with lecturers participating in strikes and boycotting resulting processes, leaving countless students without their certificates and many unable to complete their studies. Despite the lecturers' union, EIS-FELA, repeatedly reducing members pay claim and offering a four-year deal to avoid further disruption, College Employers Scotland has remained inflexible, refusing to address the crippling cost of living crisis that has plagued educators throughout this period.

For over a decade, teaching professionals in every Scottish college have been battling an intransigent management, leading to industrial action almost every year. The last pay increase for lecturers was nearly three years ago, pushing many households into severe financial hardship. In the face of the worst inflation and cost of living crisis in recent memory, public service workers across Scotland have managed to avoid prolonged industrial action—except in the further education sector, which has been systematically underfunded by the Scottish Government for years.

This underfunding represents an attack on working-class communities that rely on the opportunities college education provides. Nursery closures, reduced catering services, course cuts, the transfer of courses to distant campuses, and a relentless stream of voluntary redundancy packages have devastated staff, students, and the communities they serve.

As the new academic year approaches, returning students, alongside freshers, face an uncertain and worrying time. Lecturers, who would much rather be preparing for the new term and welcoming students, are instead being forced into industrial action by the obstinance of College Employers Scotland and the indifference of the Scottish Government. The stakes have never been higher, and the next few weeks promise to be the worst yet, with a national dispute that remains unresolved despite the obvious and impending collapse of the sector.

At West College Scotland, one of the nation's largest colleges, the situation has become even more dire. The EIS-FELA branch at this college, the second largest in Scotland, has been informed by the Principal that wages will not be paid for the days lecturers engage in the results boycott during the critical induction week. Only a handful of colleges are taking this extreme stance, claiming it is to "protect students." However, some colleges have recognised the damage this could cause and have postponed or cancelled plans for "deeming". But at West College Scotland, sadly to say, management has chosen to escalate the situation, turning a local dispute into a full-blown conflict by withholding wages for lecturers engaged in a legitimate, democratically sanctioned industrial action.

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Lecturers will not work for free. They, too, have families to support and budgets to manage.

Instead of protecting students, the college management's decision is set to escalate a three-day strike into a five-day absence from the classroom, wreaking havoc on the start of the academic year—a time that should be exciting and full of promise for students. This reckless approach by the management has created a local dispute on top of the national one, igniting unprecedented anger among lecturers and turning a challenging situation into a full-blown crisis that threatens to derail the academic year.

In a shocking display of denial, college management is charging ahead with graduation ceremonies despite having no confirmed results. This reckless decision mirrors previous blunders, where graduation lists included students who had either left before completing their courses or failed to achieve their group awards. The management's decision to pretend that this glaring problem doesn’t exist is not only absurd but also deeply damaging to the institution's reputation.

National negotiations have been at a standstill, with representatives from College Employers Scotland attending bargaining meetings only to claim they lack the authority to negotiate, instead calling for joint meetings with the Scottish Government in a desperate bid to break the deadlock. But the response from the government has been consistent and infuriating— sidestepping the issue and refusing to intervene, despite previous promises that anti-union legislation like "deeming" would not be implemented in Scotland publicly funded services.

It appears that both College Employers Scotland and the Scottish Government are so bloody-minded that they would rather see the college sector collapse than engage in meaningful negotiations. This is nothing short of union-bashing, and it is clear that they simply do not care about the devastating impact their actions—or lack thereof—are having on Scotland’s colleges.

The Scottish Government continues to neglect Scotland's colleges. Lecturers are not just fighting for a fair cost of living increase—they are fighting against threatened redundancies, fighting for the future of current and prospective students, and fighting for the very survival of a vital public service that is crucial to Scotland’s economy and social fabric.

Teaching staff want nothing more than a fair deal that ensures students receive the quality education they deserve and that our communities have a beacon of hope for the future. We call upon the Scottish Government to act immediately to prevent tens of thousands of students from suffering. Public service workers in colleges deserve to be treated with the same respect and fairness as those in other sectors.

As the next Scottish Government elections approach,students and staff alike will remember this moment of betrayal.

A critical public service is on the brink of disaster never witnessed in history, and the Scottish Government must act swiftly—or risk presiding over one of the most catastrophic failures in the history of Scottish education, with repercussions that could be felt for generations to come.

Mark Gillan is the branch secretary of the EIS-Further Education Lecturers Association (FELA) and a National Executive Committee Member.