For the first time in its history, Argyll College now has an EIS branch representing the interests of lecturing staff.

The formation of the new EIS branch at Argyll College could reasonably be described as meteoric.

The college is unusual in its set up in that it covers a wide geographical area, from Campbeltown in the south, to Islay in the west, Helensburgh to the east and Oban and Tobermory vying for the most northernmost centre. There are nine centres in total, some with just a few students and others with several hundred. Because of the distances between centres, it has never really been possible or practical to bring people together as you might in a single centred college. Rather than one or two large staffrooms in one centre, there are much smaller ones in the various centres. Communication may be sent out from the principal and his team, but staff have never really had the opportunity to discuss the contents of those communications together in the staff room as you might normally expect. Lecturers perhaps know the names of their colleagues in other centres, but rarely meet them face to face, and only a few lecturers will visit centres other than their own.

Now in its 20th year, Argyll college has never had Union representation for its teaching staff, and nor had it signed up to the National Partnership Recognition Agreement which would ensure the same terms and conditions for its staff as those benefitting colleagues across other colleges in Scotland. The reason for the latter had been cited as lack of funds to support it, and lecturers were effectively informed that the college might be bankrupted by such a commitment.

Naturally, when faced with the possibility of losing their jobs, the majority of staff felt it prudent to remain out of the national agreement in order to secure those jobs.

There were discussions in centre staff rooms where that and other matters were discussed, but the lack of opportunity to communicate collectively meant that the voices of one centre never heard the voices of another.

However, in 2019 things began to come to a head. There were some redundancies, and the spectre of job losses was suddenly a reality. Staff who had been teaching for several years now found themselves out of a job, and familiar faces were suddenly missing. Courses were pulled at the last minute, and everyone began to wonder if they were next for the axe. It came to light that there were glaring differences in the contracts of some part-time lecturers. Questions were not answered satisfactorily by management and the rumblings in the staff rooms were beginning to be heard further afield.

When support was needed for a member of staff facing disciplinary action in the summer of 2020, the EIS was the obvious place to turn to, but without sufficient union members within the college, the union was unable to offer this support.

Such was the respect held for this member of staff that within a few weeks, Union membership had more than doubled and the EIS were able to give the required advice and support. Furthermore, the Union gave branch recognition in principle – but it seemed that management were unwilling to recognise or include the Union in any of its discussions or decision making at this point. More alarmingly, it seemed that many staff still didn’t know if they would be teaching or not, despite the new academic year about to begin.

A letter outlining concerns was signed by several members of the new branch, although it was notable that many were afraid to put their heads above the parapet. A local councillor was approached with these same concerns, and finally there were some breakthroughs. Management stated they wished to move forward with the NRPA – but it seemed a branch committee was required before they would take the branch seriously.

Once again, it was obvious that as well as shouldering heavy work responsibilities, many staff were fearful of the consequences of speaking out. This was an intolerable situation that they should feel so intimidated, but an interim branch committee was indeed formed with individuals prepared to step up and do what they could to ensure a better working environment moving forward.

At the time of writing this, all is not yet signed, sealed and delivered, but there is now growing confidence in moving forward to a place where the lecturers have a united voice with which to face challenges. Members of staff now have the net of the EIS to fall into should anything go wrong, and a place to seek advice and support. Management, too, will benefit from this partnership, knowing they are abiding by the industry standards with regard to pay and terms and conditions as well as an on-going and open dialogue with members of staff.

Everyone in Argyll College is looking forward to greater transparency, better communications, and a happier place to work.

• Argyll College branch is the newest EIS-FELA branch in Scotland’s FE sector.