Sources close to a Glasgow college have suggested unions should foot the bill for a "financially unsustainable" trade union education centre running at a deficit and facing declining enrolment numbers.
The City of Glasgow College is considering closing the TUC Education Centre, which it runs in partnership with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) out of its Riverside Campus.
Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country's largest teaching union, have suggested that proposing to close the TUC EC is a tactic to undermine Scotland's trade unions during a time of prolonged industrial action.
Other union leaders have come out strongly against the proposed closure in recent weeks, but now The Herald can exclusively reveal that enrolment at the TUC EC has declined by 72% in the past five years.
Given the decline in demand for courses and the costs of running the centre, a source close to the City of Glasgow College has suggested that EIS should contribute financially to save the centre.
"EIS is a very wealthy trade union with a reported £25 million in their coffers. They have just released £5 million to pay their members in the college sector to encourage them to continue their strike action indefinitely.
"It would be great if they would consider putting some money towards making the TUC Education Centre financially sustainable."
The EIS has not responded to requests for comment.
TUC representatives have said that the falling enrolment is a direct result of a process of "managed decline" by the college.
"In 2016 the department included 4 managers, 12 tutors and 4 part time language tutors. Since then a number of positions have been lost including the Head of the Centre, Deputy Head of the Centre, Curriculum Head, tutoring staff, administrator etc.
"There was no one in the vital roles of Curriculum Head or course coordinators for 6 months and no Collective Learning Partnership (CLP) rep.
"These roles are vital for developing and marketing courses and attracting students and for the success of the CLP.
"The failure to recruit to these posts meant the Centre has not been functioning as it should."
At the end of May, the college announced that it was considering ending its contract with the TUC to operate the centre. This would mean closing it down and ending the variety of diploma courses, short courses and training, and online courses.
Read more: Leading training centre for union reps at risk as college cuts costs
The backlash was immediate, with EIS-FELA, the lecturers' union, speaking against the proposal on behalf of staff at the TUC EC.
Meanwhile, trade union leaders and academics have sent letters First Minister John Swinney and the college calling for the TUC EC to continue, citing growth in union membership of 2.6% in Scotland.
However, with the City of Glasgow College facing an estimated deficit of £2 million ahead of the 2024/25 academic year, a college spokesperson said that the decision to open a consultation on the future of the TUC EC was based on finances.
They said that the TUC EC costs £150,000 annually and, without further long-term financial support or a change to the agreement between the college and the TUC, it has become "financially unsustainable".
According to statistics from the City of Glasgow College, 462 students enrolled in TUC Education Centre courses in 2023/24, compared to 1,656 in 2018/19.
The college has cited several explanations for the drop off.
These include trade unions opting to source training in-house, through a third party or the TUC Education Centre in Fife, and disruptions caused by industrial action.
Read more: An attack on students, jobs and unions: MSP challenges college head over closure
“It is normal practice for Colleges to regularly evaluate course provision to check their efficiency and effectiveness.
"Each year, following such robust reviews, a small number of courses are removed from our curriculum portfolio, and replacement courses are added, especially in areas where demand is increasing.
"As we operate within finite public funding, tough choices have to be made about those courses that are declining and/or underperforming".
On the other hand, supporters of the TUC UC have said that changes to the centre's structure - including new minimum restrictions on how many learners are needed to run courses, staff cuts and regular, last-minute cancellations - are working to drive down enrolment.
Multiple industrial disputes at CoGC
The battle over the TUC EC is just one front on which the national industrial dispute between EIS-FELA and college employers is being waged locally.
City of Glasgow College, particularly Principal Paul Little, have been regularly targeted for union activity because of perceived excesses in the executive offices and the tactics employed.
Read more: City of Glasgow College principal claims £100,000 in expenses
The college is one of the 90% of colleges that have threatened to deem staff–deducting all of their pay–for taking part in action short of a strike (ASOS).
City of Glasgow College has said that participating in the union's resulting boycott is a breach of contract. Local EIS-FELA representatives have said that deeming breaches fair work policies.
Despite this, both sides have agreed that deeming practices are legal. EIS-FELA's advice to members on ASOS states that " industrial action – whatever form it takes – are breaches of contract, but members are protected from dismissal for a period of 12 weeks."
The advice goes on to explain that colleges may choose to deduct pay for those breaches of contract but that managers will be required to explain in writing how they intend to carry out pay deductions.
"Unfortunately, whilst a complex area of law, in general the law favours employers and makes such deductions possible if an employer accepts partial performance, insofar that it is proportionate.
"The EIS will take robust action in response to any deeming of its members.
"This will include the declaration of a dispute on the matter locally and will likely lead to a local ballot for strike action in defence of members taking lawful industrial action, if employers continue any course of action in relation to deeming."
A letter from college leadership to staff dated June 10, City of Glasgow College notified staff of its intentions to deduct pay for any boycotting staff and provided a deadline for results to be entered without penalty.
"It is important to note that withholding students’ results constitutes a breach of contract as it means staff are not fully performing their contractual duties.
"As previously intimated, and as set out in the EIS-FELA guidance to members, the College cannot accept partial performance and will deduct 100% of pay for non-performance.
"Ensuring timely and accurate student results is crucial for our students' success and future opportunities."
In response, the local branch declared a formal dispute over the deeming threats. A branch spokesperson for EIS-FELA told The Herald that the college's June 26 deadline for inputting results was "unreasonable," given the working calendar remaining for the term.
"Deducting 100% salary is not only contrary to Fair Work but also unreasonable in comparison to the time taken to result students and is therefore possible to be an unlawful deduction of wages.
"If the current national dispute continues, there will be two working days left this academic year: Tuesday, June 18th, and Wednesday, June 26th. These are the only days that could be ‘deemed’ as every other day lecturers are striking, and their employer is withholding 100% of their salary anyway.
"If lecturers have been striking, then they will not have been undertaking any contractual duties on strike days including marking assessments which means they may not have completed marking to be able to input results.
"The instruction to input all results by the 26th of June is therefore predicated on completing all outstanding marking and resulting in just 2 working days, which is utterly unreasonable and unrealistic."
Read more: College board votes down plan to withhold pay from boycotting staff
And yet, while EIS-FELA accepts that employers have the ability to deem, the methods for deeming are not straightforward legal matters. EIS-FELA has pointed to several potential pitfalls that could leave colleges open to lawsuits, including variations in lecturers' responsibilities that will make it difficult for the college to deduct pay accurately.
Members raised these concerns during Wednesday night's meeting of the Glasgow Kelvin College board, during which the board voted against proposals to deduct pay from boycotting staff.
The City of Glasgow College board meets this Thursday. Although colleges are free to make their own local decisions about pay deductions, sources close to EIS-FELA have said that they plan to raise similar concerns with the board over the fairness and legality of deeming.
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