COLLEGE lecturers have taken strike action in a dispute over working arrangements.

Staff at Ayrshire College’s Kilwinning campus walked out on Tuesday, November 18 after overwhelmingly voting in favour of strike action by 86 per cent to 14 per cent.

And the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union revealed that further strike action is planned for the coming weeks which could see staff strike for up to three days per week.

Following Tuesday’s strike, a further day of action is scheduled for next Thursday (November 27) along with two-day strikes in the first two weeks of December.

The dispute arose after furious staff complained to management about the new timetabling policy at the merged college.

The union insists that the new timetable would be detrimental to the working arrangements for lecturers and are described as being “simply not acceptable”.

EIS also claim that the new timetable was introduced without staff consultation and allege that the college warned lecturers that if they do not comply then they would face disciplinary action.

But the college have defended their stance and insist that the terms and conditions are “very positive” and “highly favourable”.

They also claim that annual class contact time is significantly less than in previous years with 22 hours per week class contact over 35 weeks. In addition, Ayrshire College insists that lecturers have flexibility in delivering their classes and are among the highest paid in the college sector.

A college spokesperson said: “It is very disappointing that the union has chosen to embark on strike action when less than half of the members balloted supported this approach. It is difficult to see how taking such a stance on the length of teaching sessions, based on an agreement dating back to 1996, can be in the best interests of students.

“Our aim is to provide the most appropriate session lengths for students when in a practical workshop setting, salon, kitchen or theoretical class. Following the creation of Ayrshire College, we negotiated key improvements to salaries and terms and conditions, with very favourable outcomes for lecturing staff which are amongst the best in the college sector.” EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: “Lecturers at the North Ayrshire Campus have been forced into this action by the decision of Ayrshire College management to seek to impose new working arrangements without the approval of, or proper consultation with, the staff concerned. This proposed imposition of new working arrangements is simply not acceptable and so our members are determined to take the necessary steps to protect their contractual rights.”