COLLEGE lecturers have demanded ministers intervene in a stalemate over the implementation of national pay rates for the sector.

The call from union leaders for the Scottish Government to step in comes as talks with college management have reached stalemate.

In its manifesto for the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections the SNP pledged to introduce national pay bargaining for colleges as part of wider reforms of the sector.

Under the previous system of local bargaining, significant differences had opened up in lecturers’ terms and conditions, with some staff earning as much as £12,000 more for a similar job.

However, the move to harmonise pay is costly and there are concerns from colleges that a salary increase has to come with more flexibility in the workforce.

As well as having different pay rates, lecturers in different colleges are also contracted to spend different amounts of time teaching.

In March this year an agreement was struck to make £40,000 the top of the salary scale for an unpromoted lecturer, with increases phased in over several years.

However, Charlie Montgomery, salaries convener for the Educational Institute of Scotland – Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA), said there was growing concern that crucial deadlines were being missed which would make the agreement unworkable.

He said: “The Scottish Government offered us a vision of a harmonisation for teaching staff across colleges five years ago and we are still waiting. It’s time for our government to deliver on its promise to further education.

“Colleges Scotland made a deal with us to avoid further industrial action by agreeing a two-year pay deal that paved the way for harmonisation. Some colleges now appear to be trying to renege on that deal.

“We do not wish to take industrial action, but we cannot sit idly by while employers play fast and loose with our members livelihoods.”

Mr Montgomery called on John Swinney, the Education Secretary, to intervene to ensure colleges honoured the deal.

Shona Struthers, chief executive of the Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association, said: “The agreement reached in March with the EIS was significant for the sector.

“It was, however, the first step in a long and complex process of returning to national bargaining in the college sector after more than 20 years.

“The employers are confident the agreement will be honoured in full and in order to deliver the full benefits to lecturing staff it is vital the EIS works with the employers.”

Under the March agreement, the top scale point for unpromoted lecturers has been agreed as £40,026 by 2019, with increases phased in over the next three years.

The Scottish Government is supporting national bargaining with £450,000 a year for the next three years.

A spokeswoman said: “After the reintroduction of national bargaining to the college sector, a National Joint Negotiation Committee was established and a national recognitions and procedures agreement was voluntarily entered into by employers and the collective recognised trade unions, including the EIS.”