Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
College closes for day as support staff strike
Action over pay offer
Coatbridge’s college campus was shut yesterday as support staff staged a day of strike action in a dispute over pay awards.
Unison members from the Kildonan Street institution joined their colleagues from across New College Lanarkshire in protesting over the offer of a flat-rate £230 pay rise for support workers – such as administrators, advisers, technicians and cleaners – compared to the £450 award made to lecturing staff.
Students of New College Lanarkshire were advised in advance that classes would be cancelled with all of its campuses being closed for the day, as staff joined 2300 fellow union members representing 20 Scottish colleges in taking action.
John Gallacher, the union’s Scottish organiser, said: “It’s tragic that the further education (FE) employers failed to resolve this before it happened.
“The difference between what they had offered and what would have solved the dispute was a bridgeable gap. Instead, they have chosen conflict with difficult consequences for the sector and its students.”
Unison FE committee chair Chris Greenshields said that members were “reluctantly” taking action, saying: “Members are fed up being treated as secondclass citizens and the value of their contribution to the sector demeaned.”
A statement from the Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association said: “Unison members are already getting a good deal which exceeds public sector pay and which is comparable to the deal accepted by lecturers.
“Many members received above-inflation pay rises earlier this year, on top of a reduction in working hours and additional holiday leave.
“Unison’s demands are not financially sustainable.”