A Glasgow politician is calling on the council to support a campaign for a better wage rise for college education lecturers and staff.
Councillor Soryia Siddique is set to present a motion this week at a council meeting asking the local authority to "support" union EIS in its campaign for a "sufficient pay increase."
The deputy Labour leader's motion also requests that Glasgow City council should write to the Scottish Government asking it to "recommit to the £46 million pledged for higher and further education in the 2023 to 2024 budget."
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The investment was due this financial year for the sector but it is understood it has now been identified as an "essential saving."
Lecturers belonging to the union EIS-FELA have been taking strike action over pay.
Workers are also protesting proposals at the City of Glasgow College to make up to 100 compulsory redundancies.
Dr Siddique said: "It is widely recognised that education is a critical pathway out of poverty for many people. It can open the door to employment opportunities , equipping people with the skills they need to get a job and for in work progression. It can make the difference between surviving and thriving."
She claimed a "wide gap has emerged in educational attainment between the better off and the more disadvantaged."
Councillor Siddique added: "The further education sector is increasingly vital for learners to gain skills, qualifications and for some a second chance route to university.
"Hence it is vital Scottish Government recommit to the £46 million pledged for higher and further education in 2023 to 2024 and stop the further education cuts and the cuts to life chances that follow."
Labour councillor Patricia Ferguson, education spokesperson, said: “Colleges are a vital element if we are serious about building a stronger economy in Glasgow and committed to ensuring access to all. The Government preaches about inclusive growth but its record suggests that it is not a priority.
'As the SNP soap opera continues, Scotland’s colleges and universities face cuts biting to the bone.
'It's high time the government acted before more students and staff are failed.''
The motion said: "Council notes that members of EIS-FELA have begun to take strike action in response to an unsatisfactory pay offer and proposed job cuts; notes that the offer tabled by College Employers Scotland amounts to a real-terms pay cut for FE lecturers and staff; and further notes that the pay offer comes against a backdrop of the Scottish Government reneging on its pledge to provide £46million for Colleges and Universities, and a real-terms cut to college funding since 2007."
It added: "Council also notes with deep concern the proposal by City of Glasgow College to introduce compulsory redundancies in order to balance its budget; and that this comes alongside warnings from representatives of the college sector that in "the absence of sustainable investment in the college sector, there will be a reduction in learner pathways out of poverty…"
