Meeting of the Parliament 16 March 2016
Good progress has been made. The vast majority of colleges have signed up to national bargaining, and three out of four unions have accepted the pay offer for 2015-16.
I made my three immediate priorities clear to the Educational Institute of Scotland and to the management side. Those priorities are the pay award for teaching staff; a formal commitment to national pay bargaining from those who have not yet given a commitment; and a clear road map with short to medium-term milestones for harmonising the terms and conditions of college staff.