The lecturers’ union NATFHE has condemned education junior minister James Paice for giving his tacit approval to the casualisation of staff in further education colleges.
Union chiefs were outraged by the implications of a letter sent earlier this month by the minister to Keith Scribbins, chairman of the Colleges’ Employers’ Forum, in which he welcomed “the use of agency lecturers for part-time work”.
NATFHE has been embroiled in a long-running battle over the use of agency staff after a number of colleges sacked their part-time lecturers and replaced them with “casual” teachers on a supply and demand basis.
Over the past year a number of agencies have been set up to satisfy colleges’ growing demand for part-time “flexible” staff who do not qualify for any of the benefits of permanent employment.
Sue Berryman, NATFHE spokesman, said the union took issue with the minister’s claims that part-time agency staff “could obtain a greater range of career development opportunities through an agency”.
“The use of such staff in colleges appears to be a way of deliberately subverting employment and pension rights gained by part-time workers, particularly women.
“This is the most serious issue for us at the moment. These people are being kept at the end of a phone, expected to appear for work at a drop of a hat when it becomes available.”
In the past, agencies have stoutly defended themselves against NATFHE criticism, insisting they offer part-time lecturers a more flexible deal than before.
