A lecturers’ leader has accused college managers of undermining a national pay deal agreed earlier this year, claiming that they are “secretly” attempting to derail national bargaining for the sector.

The commitment to a return to national bargaining was part of the government’s reform plans for colleges in 2013, and the first two-year deal was agreed in March.

For teaching staff, this included a 1 per cent pay rise, a flat-rate payment in April this year of £100, and £40,026 becoming the top point of a new national pay scale for unpromoted lecturers.

But in an article published by the Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA), vice-president Pam Currie said that although staff had been hopeful after the pay deal was agreed, it had been implemented differently across different colleges due to a “secret ‘technical implementation note’ from Colleges Scotland”.

College management’s advice was, Ms Currie added, “back to front and upside down”, leading to every member losing £100. EIS-FELA believes April’s flat-rate payment of £100 was for 2015-16, and that this was then to be consolidated and part of this year’s pay for lecturers, too. Colleges, however, say the £100 was an up-front payment to bridge the two-year pay deal.

Ms Currie wrote: “This is no incompetent bumbling on the part of management, but a deliberate and concerted effort to undermine and unpick the March 2016 agreement.”

She added that “management” had now produced papers and presentations setting out “their dystopian ‘workforce for the future’, which reads something like a Conservative minister’s dream”. TESS understands that the Workforce for the Future paper sets out the job roles and terms and conditions that should apply in colleges.

‘Equal pay and conditions’

Ms Currie said: “We have our vision of the future of further education, too - and it doesn’t include performance appraisal. We want a further education sector that is able to meet the demands of the most vulnerable learners, where lecturers receive equal pay and harmonised terms and conditions, and where zero-hours contracts have been eliminated.”

This is not the first time that negotiations to introduce national pay bargaining have been the subject of controversy. In the past, they have been marred by national strike action and college managers’ insistence that further pay increases were not affordable.

Shona Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association, which represents college managers in negotiations, described Ms Currie’s comments as “disappointing”. “This is a negotiation process, and not for employers to concede to unrealistic and unaffordable demands - therefore it will ultimately require an agreement by both sides,” she said.

There had been no secret implementation note, Ms Struthers stressed, and it had never been the intention to pay the £100 twice.

“The EIS refuse to discuss pay and conditions of service together, instead demanding that all lecturers are paid in excess of £40k with no requirement for changes to conditions of service. It would be difficult for the employers to assess whether staff are meeting the demands of learners without some form of appraisal.”

Colleges have argued they would struggle to give further pay rises without extra funding. Last month, the FE minister Shirley-Anne Somerville said that Scotland faced difficult financial times, and did not rule out future cuts.

A government spokesman said: “As a result of the government’s commitment to national bargaining in the college sector, processes are in place for unions and colleges, as employers, to discuss matters, including pay. Any financial implications for colleges in future years arising from such discussions will be considered as part of the draft budget.”