Attempts to reform college national bargaining at risk

The recommendations appear in Strathesk Resolutions ‘Lessons Learned’ report. Based on research conducted in 2021 and 2022, the report highlights ways the current national bargaining structure hinders negotiations.

The report is a scathing indictment of the current negotiating landscape, particularly the erosion of trust and confidence since national bargaining was introduced in 2016.

The report finds that “persistently low trust between the sides has been a feature of national bargaining more or less from the outset,” and offers several explanations 

One factor is the need for more resources during the initial transition, including time and training. After this early misstep, the report identifies another major problem: lack of trust at a national level. Low trust levels have subsequently inhibited participants from taking collective responsibility for the conduct and outcomes of national negotiations.”

This lack of trust contrasts with many examples of positive local college or interpersonal relationships found in the report. But that goodwill “made little difference” at the national level.

Their characterization of national discussions is blistering and sometimes personal. Critical strategy discussions are impossible because ofnegotiation tactics “typical of ‘old fashioned’ positional bargaining.

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Meanwhile, “long-standing personality clashes” and “unresolved ideological differences” lead to poor behaviour and a feeling that negotiations are sometimes conducted in bad faith.

However, these behavioural issues are not the fault of national bargaining itself, but from a power imbalance baked into the system where both sides have equal power.

To this end, Strathesk recommended changes to how the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) for colleges operates to help unions and employers reach agreements without resorting to industrial action and formal disputes.

One key recommendation is appointing an independent, non-voting chair of the NJNC. College Employers Scotland, the group representing employers at the NJNC, supported the recommendations from the Lessons Learned report, particularly the appointment of a third-party chair.

CES director Gavin Donoghue said he hopes an independent arbiter can facilitate discussions and end stalemates while recognising that it may sometimes work to the detriment of employers.

“I’m not saying it would be the final arbiter of things like pay. But it would help us with other issues. We can say here’s our evidence, here’s the trade union evidence, and an independent person could weigh the balance.

“And it may not be to the benefit of employers. You will get decisions that side more with the trade unions, but it definitely helps bring the process to conclusions.”

Mr Donoghue said that while pay disputes dominate the headlines and negotiations, many minor disputes have been on the backburner for years. Some of these involve technical issues, including whether the dispute is a matter for national bargaining or should be dealt with locally.

This type of practical disagreement played out nationally in 2021, when the lecturers’ union EIS-FELA launched its national instructor assessor dispute. The union was fighting back against attempts by some colleges to replace lecturers with lower-paid staff.

Despite a formal dispute and national industrial action between August 2020 and May 2021, CES maintained throughout the process that the “fire and rehire” policy was not happening at a national level and, therefore, was not an issue for national bargaining.

In their response to the Lessons Learned report, EIS-FELA was less enthusiastic.

The union’s comments placed the onus of resetting industry relations on employers and expressed reservations about the independent chair’s role. 

Citing concerns that college employers already hold an advantage because they staff the NJNC’s administrative side, the union worries that recruiting and appointing a chair may not be a fully independent process. 

Instead, EIS-FELA recommended that the Scottish Government fulfill a similar role to address the issues the independent chair is meant to correct. 

“The Scottish Government cannot continue to enforce distance from itself and a process that is within the public sector and an FE sector that is ultimately under their direction in terms of purpose, policy and strategy.”

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The government, however, has proven unwilling to participate.

The Scottish Government commissioned the  Lessons Learned to review and compile recommendations to improve the government-backed national bargaining system. These recommendations were submitted to the Scottish Government for consideration in March 2022. 

Labour shadow cabinet secretary for education Pam Duncan-Glancy has pushed for the Scottish Government to intervene and help reform college national bargaining. (Image: Newsquest)

When asked questions about enacting recommendations from the Lessons Learned report as recently as April 2024 – two years after its publication – government ministers demur. 

This month, in response to Labour’s shadow secretary for education, Pam Duncan-Glancy, the Minister for Further and Higher Education Graeme Dey said that although the government commissioned the report, it is not its job to implement changes to national bargaining and that it does not have the power to do so.

However, he committed to engaging with both sides about “finding a better way forward than currently exists.”

When asked to comment on its role in national bargaining, the Scottish Government declined. Instead, a spokesperson referred to Mr Dey’s response and offered background information, reinforcing the stance that collective bargaining is the responsibility of the NJNC.

Barring an about-face from the Scottish Government, then, hopes of reforming a problematic system clogged by stalemate and poor relations are in the hands of the system itself.