Achi news desk-
The recommendations appear in the Strathesk Resolutions ‘Lessons Learned’ report. Based on research carried out in 2021 and 2022, the report highlights ways in which 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 the introduction of national bargaining in 2016.
The report finds that “persistently low trust between the parties has been a feature of national bargaining almost from the beginning,” 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: a lack of trust at the national level. Since then low levels of trust have prevented participants from taking collective responsibility for the conduct and outcomes of national discussions.”
This lack of trust contrasts with many examples of local colleges or positive interpersonal relationships found in the report. But that goodwill made “little difference” at a national level.
Their characterizations of national discussions are blistering and sometimes personal. Crucial strategy discussions are impossible due to negotiation tactics that are “typical of ‘old fashioned’ positional bargaining.
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Meanwhile, “long-standing personality clashes” and “unresolved ideological differences” lead to poor behavior and a feeling that negotiations are sometimes conducted in bad faith.
However, these behavioral issues are not the fault of national bargaining itself, but rather due to a power imbalance baked into the system where both sides have equal power.
To this end, Strathesk recommended changes to the way 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 to appoint an independent, non-voting chairman to the Joint Committee. College Employers Scotland, the group representing employers in the NJNC, supported the recommendations from the Lessons Learned report, particularly the appointment of a third party chair.
CES director Gavin Donoghue said he hoped an independent arbitrator could facilitate negotiations and end stalemates while acknowledging it could sometimes work to the detriment of employers.
“I’m not saying this would be the final arbiter for things like pay. But it would help us with other matters. We can say this is our evidence, this is the evidence of the trade union, and an independent person could weigh the balance.
“And it may not benefit 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 although pay disputes dominate the headlines and discussions, many minor disputes have been on the back burner for years. Some of these relate to technical issues, including whether the dispute is a matter for national bargaining or should be dealt with locally.
This kind of practical disagreement came out nationally in 2021, when the lecturers’ union EIS-FELA launched its national dispute for instructor assessors. 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 re-hire” 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 put the responsibility of resetting industrial relations on employers and doubts were expressed about the role of the independent chairman.
Citing concerns that college employers already have an advantage because they staff the administrative side of the NJNC, the union worries that the recruitment and appointment of a chair may not be a completely independent process.
Instead, EIS-FELA recommended that the Scottish Government should undertake a similar role to address the issues that the independent chair is supposed to correct.
“The Scottish Government cannot continue to enforce a distance from itself and a process that is within the public sector and the FE sector which is ultimately under their direction in terms of purpose, policy and strategy.”
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However, the government has proven unwilling to participate.
The Scottish Government commissioned Lessons Learned to review and make recommendations to improve the national government-backed bargaining system. These recommendations were submitted to the Scottish Government for consideration in March 2022.
When questions were asked about implementing recommendations from the Lessons Learned report as recently as April 2024 – two years after it was published – government ministers are discouraged.
This month, in response to Labour’s shadow education secretary, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Further and Higher Education Minister Graeme Dey said that although the government had commissioned the report, it was not her job to implement changes to national bargaining and to be doing that. without the power to do so.
However, he committed to engaging with both sides about “finding a better way forward than currently exists.”
Asked to comment on her role in national bargaining, the Scottish Government declined. Instead, a spokesperson referred to Mr Dey’s response and offered background information, reinforcing the position that the NJNC is responsible for collective bargaining.
Barring some about-face from the Scottish Government, then, hopes of reforming a problematic system that has been hampered by stalemate and poor relations lie in the hands of the system itself.
