As of Thursday 15th August, members of the EIS-FELA trade union at Edinburgh College who are taking part in Action Short of a Strike will be docked (deemed) 100% of their pay.
College lecturers across Scotland are taking part in a protracted dispute over pay and job security, and have had no consolidated pay rise since 2021 despite rampant inflation.
In a recent email to all staff, Edinburgh College Principal Audrey Cumberford conceded that staff should be “due a pay award that reflects the issue of pay erosion over a number of years, and reflects the value of what you do”.
She further accepts that the current pay dispute is inextricably linked to the lack of Scottish Government funding of the sector, and that colleges have been left behind compared to other public sector organisations when it comes to cost-of living payrises.
EIS Branch Secretary Dan Holland said: “It is welcome that Edinburgh College leaders now publicly recognise what EIS members have been saying from the outset: that the Scottish Government are providing the barrier for a cost-of-living pay rise in the college.
“However, by choosing to punish staff for participating in Action Short of a Strike and deduct all their salary, this has now escalated the matter locally which will only serve to harm industrial relations.
“Following a local strike last year which damaged these relations, the local EIS branch has worked extremely hard with local management to repair this trust.
“This unconscionable act of deducting all our salary for refusing to complete less than 1% of our job is effectively locking staff out of coming to work, as the Principal clearly stated that any work carried out would be consider voluntary and go unpaid.
“The local branch implores the Principal to withdraw this punitive approach to evidence her commitment to the agreed cultural reset.”
Last year, the Edinburgh College EIS Branch passed a unanimous vote of no-confidence in Audrey Cumberford following an acrimonious redundancy process and complaints of bullying within the college.
Edinburgh College’s own Hive survey, commissioned at the cost of approximately £20k, further highlighted that there are significant cultural issues within the college.
Ironically, an all-staff day tomorrow – Monday 19th August – will be themed around improving the culture of the college will see many EIS members unable to attend due to this de facto lockout without pay.
“Honest answers” needed from pladis after proposals for future rejected
Following an announcement this morning by the McVitie’s Tollcross owner pladis, confirming its rejection of counter-proposals to maintain production and intentions to proceed with closure, GMB Scotland Senior Organiser Hazel Nolan said: “It seems clear now that pladis had no intention of engaging in good faith over the future of Tollcross – General Manager Jim Cuthbert told us they “expected more” from the counter-proposals but offered no specific comment on what “more” would look like.
“That’s not good enough. If pladis are walking away from this community after nearly a century of production, and after eighteen months of constant manufacturing during this COVID-19 pandemic, the very least the workforce deserve is honest answers.
“That honesty is also needed for the members of the Action Group because if a firm like pladis no longer sees Scotland as a viable place to do business, then everyone needs to understand why and what must be done to prevent further manufacturing decline.”
Trade unions GMB Scotland and Unite Scotland, who jointly represent the vast majority of McVitie’s workers based at Tollcross, have reacted furiously to the company formally issuing redundancy notices yesterday.
The McVitie’s biscuit factory, which manufactures a range of notable products including Hobnobs and Rich Tea Biscuits, has through its parent owners Pladis also ‘disgracefully’ refused to engage with the newly established Action Group set up to prevent the factory’s closure.
The group is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, Kate Forbes MSP, and involves the trade unions, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Enterprise, Clyde Gateway and Skills Development Scotland.
Following two meetings of the Action Group, Kate Forbes, wrote to McVitie’s requesting direct engagement with the parent company, Pladis, ahead of the next scheduled meeting on 23 June. The meeting is set to discuss a series of proposals which could maintain a presence of McVitie’s in the local area.
However, Unite Scotland and GMB Scotland can confirm that the company has formally issued redundancy notices to its workforce and refused to engage with the Action Group.
In 2014, the Turkish owned Pladis acquired the McVitie’s business after its takeover of United Biscuits, which made it the third largest biscuit manufacturer in the world. In that same year, United Biscuits also cut its then 680-strong workforce at Tollcross by almost a quarter.
The Tollcross factory, which first opened in 1925 as part of the Macfarlane and Lang’s Victoria Biscuit Works, is a major employer in an area with higher levels of social deprivation and unemployment. The McVitie’s presence in Scotland goes back to the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price Ltd, which was established in 1830 in Edinburgh.
GMB Scotland Organiser David Hume said: “It’s an act of extreme bad faith on the part of the Pladis Managing Director David Murray, and a gross insult to hundreds of workers and their families who are fighting for their livelihoods and community.
“The rules of the game have now been changed by Pladis – the clock is now officially ticking on nearly 470 jobs and generations of food manufacturing that has endured austerity and prosperity, war and pandemic.”
“David Murray needs to be hauled by the Cabinet Secretary before the members of the Action Group because this is a profitable business with an innovative workforce that can and should have a future in the East End of Glasgow.”
Pat McIlvogue, Unite industrial officer, said:“It’s an absolute disgrace and slap in the face to the workforce that not only has McVitie’s formally issued redundancy notices but they are also refusing to engage with the Action Group established by the Scottish Government.
“Everyone except the company is working together in order to bring forward options, which could save hundreds of jobs in the local area. Unite is again calling on Pladis to directly engage with the trade unions, the workforce and the Scottish Government to look at credible alternatives to closure.
“Pladis have a duty of care to hundreds of workers to jointly discuss with us what could be done to save jobs instead of this belligerent and arrogant approach which they have adopted.”
Edinburgh College lecturers are scheduled for further industrial action this week, Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st April in defence of the Further Education sector and the professional status of qualified lecturers. This follows previous strongly supported strike action taken prior to the Easter holidays.
Colleges Scotland’s refusal to ratify their own agreed definition of the lecturer’s role, a definition the union accepts, has so far prevented a settlement. Their refusal threatens to undermine the delivery of quality education to Edinburgh College students, many of whom have over the years seen unqualified staff on poorer pay, terms and conditions deliver qualifications up to HN level.
EIS FELA members will this week also be balloted on Action Short of Strike Action. This constitutes an escalation of the dispute incorporating a withdrawal of good will.
Edinburgh College Branch Secretary Penny Gower described what is at stake: ‘Our members are losing money by striking, but this action is not for personal gain. It is to make sure our students get the quality of education they deserve.
“All we ask is that the employers ratify their own proposals which we have already accepted. If they care about students they should do that immediately.”
EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said, “Our members are continuing to stand firm against the practice of replacing lecturers with less qualified, lower paid staff. Colleges claim that there is no plan to do this, yet they continue to refuse to ratify an agreement that would halt this practice.
“If colleges are not seeking to replace lecturers with lower qualified staff, why are they so reluctant to ratify the agreement – incorporating their own proposals – that would stop it from happening?”
A spokesperson for the Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association, said: “Colleges will do everything they can to ensure that students are supported during this difficult time, and that any disruption is minimised.
“The EIS-FELA has refused repeated requests to suspend the strikes while meaningful discussions carry on – national industrial action is wholly unnecessary.”
200 workers sacked in national ‘Fire and Rehire’ dispute
British Gas doesn’t give a toss for either customers or staff – and that is shown by the mass sackings of engineers who are badly needed by customers to clear huge backlog, says the GMB trade union.
British Gas went ahead with yesterday’s mass sacking of striking gas engineers who refused to submit to corporate bullying to accept a 15% cut in pay rates and other imposed changes in terms and conditions.
This coincides with British Gas suspending the sale of boiler insurance cover amid scenes of ‘van graveyards’ from the vans returned by the sacked gas engineers.
This mass sackings were enacted as gas engineers took part on the 43rd day of strike action in the long-running, deadlocked and increasingly bitter dispute.
British Gas announced in July last year that staff in the Field staff bargaining group who refused to accept imposed 15% cuts in pay rates and other changes would be sacked.
GMB says the company bullied the rest of the staff in the Field staff bargaining group to sign terms they had overwhelmingly rejected and still don’t accept.
These GMB members at British Gas have already taken 42 days of strike action against the imposition of the 15% cuts in pay rates and other changes via “fire and rehire” notices.
In addition, a national official “lockout” dispute between British Gas and GMB will become effective from 14 April and will include further strike action and action short of a strike.
The strikes have led to a backlog of millions of customers waiting for planned service visits and hundreds of thousands having to wait for emergency repairs.
British Gas has suspended sale of the standard boiler service insurance.
Justin Bowden, GMB Regional Secretary said:“That British Gas doesn’t give a toss for either customers or staff is shown by the mass sackings of engineers it needs so badly for customer services that it has suspended the sale of boiler insurance cover.
“The ‘graveyards of vans’ returned by the sacked gas engineers shows this.
“These sacked gas engineers are badly needed by customers to clear the huge backlog of missed planned annual service visits and repairs.
“There is sadly nothing in law to stop corporate bullying by companies of their own staff to sign terms they don’t accept and sacking those who don’t submit to this bullying.
“But GMB members won’t accept the outcome of the bullying. This is why we are staging the 43rd day of strike action today.
“I have news for Mr O’Shea. This is not the end of the dispute. As well as being in dispute with his own staff he is now in dispute with the national union GMB.
“This is why this dispute will continue and become an official national lockout dispute. There will be more strikes and action short of strikes.
“The British Gas leadership disaster reaches its low point today (April 14) with mass sackings of British Gas Engineers – in the only consistently profitable part of the company – by a management team too stupid to see the true value of a uniquely skilled and loyal workforce.
“With hundreds of thousands waiting in the backlog for service, customers have been treated as collateral and so, it seems, too will staff – as Mr O’Shea prepares to go down in history as the first major CEO to mass sack his highly skilled and qualified engineers.
“They are his most valuable asset. He will be universally condemned by politicians and public alike for doing so.
“The arrogant gamble has been lost. Any fool can start a war and, it seems, ruin a good business.
“History will not be kind to Mr O’Shea or the Centrica Board who failed to rein in him and his out-of-control leadership team.”
A statement posted on the British Gas website yesterday said: “Unfortunately, due to strike action by some engineers on Wednesday the 14th of April, we’re only able to offer a very limited emergency service.
“During this time we’ll be prioritising our most vulnerable customers, but we’ll do our best to help everyone as quickly as we can. Thanks for understanding – we’re so sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.”
A Centrica spokesperson said: “There is a job for everyone at the end of this process. We are changing the way we work to give our customers the service they want and protect the future of our company and 20,000 UK jobs. Today marks the end of the period for our employees to sign new contracts.
“These are highly competitive, and our changes are reasonable. Around 98% of the entire company has accepted and we hope the remaining, also sign and choose to stay. We have not cut base pay or changed our generous final salary pensions. Our gas service engineers remain some of the best paid in the sector, earning £40,000 a year minimum.
“While change is difficult, reversing our decline which has seen us lose over three million customers, cut over 15,000 jobs and seen profits halved over the last 10 years is necessary. The changes will also unlock our ability to grow jobs and hire 1000 green apprentices over the next two years.’’
GMB, the union for Asda workers, has written to company bosses calling on them not to sack 12,000 workers just before Christmas.
In an open letter to senior vice president Hayley Tatum, GMB calls on the company to withdraw its threat to sack all workers who don’t sign the controversial Contract 6 on November 2.
Earlier this month Asda workers handed in a 23,000 strong petition opposing the contract to Asda HW during a mass protest in Leeds.
Hundreds of people from across the UK gathered in Leeds to voice their anger.
Asda workers have been told to sign the contracts – which will see them lose all their paid breaks and forced to work bank holidays – or be sacked on November 2 in the run up the Christmas.
Dr Who star Paul Mcgann, who also starred in cult hit Withnail and I and Aliens 3, and Rob Delaney, who appeared in Catastrophe and Deadpool 2, both lent their support to Asda workers.
Latest company accounts show directors trousered a whopping £12million last year – and profits rocketed more than £92 million – at the same time Asda slashed 5,000 jobs
Gary Carter, GMB National Officer, said: “If Asda is serious about not wanting to sack thousands its employees on the run up to Christmas, they need to withdraw the dismissal notices and sit down with GMB to resolve this dispute.
“Asda has served notice on up to 12,000 of its loyal employees – that can not be right.
“The onus is now on them to save people’s jobs with a better deal that their employees can sign up to.”
