Staff at three Scottish universities join strike

Support staff at three Scottish universities have gone on strike in a pay dispute.

Unison members at Glasgow, Edinburgh Napier and Robert Gordon universities have walked out over an imposed, below-inflation national pay award.

The action is being taken by staff including cleaners, library workers, IT support staff and security officers.

They will also be striking on Wednesday, with further action planned for October.

University lecturers are not involved in the dispute.

Glasgow Caledonian University pulled out of the strike action to consider a local offer from its employer, but is also scheduled to strike in October if the dispute remains unresolved.

The strikes come after UCEA (The Universities and Colleges employers association), proposed a 3% offer for most university staff, with some bottom loading bringing it up to 7.2% for the lowest paid.

Lorcan Mullen, Unison Scotland's head of higher and further education, said this was the "first wave" of strikes on campuses this year.

He said: "The university staff we represent are sick to death of below-inflation pay rises.

"In recent days, we have seen a range of offers and impositions of one-off payments from several Scottish universities to supplement the imposed, disputed national award.

"This demonstrates a clear ability to pay better on a permanent basis, and our members want to fight for consolidated improvements to their pay and conditions.

"These workers kept universities running throughout the pandemic; they are indispensable to a functioning university and they cannot keep being treated as second-class citizens on Scottish campuses."

Unison have warned that other institutions may join the strike action later in the autumn.

Members at the University of Dundee are set to strike this week and next in a separate dispute concerning pension provision.