Students occupy city uni in protest
UNIVERSITY campuses in Glasgow were occupied by students as part of a dispute over lecturer pensions.
Protestors at the University of Glasgow and Strathclyde University held ‘sit-ins’ at the campuses as part of UK-wide strike action.
Security were sent in to deal with the protesters who, at one point, claimed they were being refused food and water.
Strikers ‘seized’ the Senate Room in the Main Building of the University of Glasgow yesterday morning to “remind our university management where their sympathies should lie”.
The group issued a list of demands which they said had to be responded to by 2pm to avoid further action.
A spokesperson for the group said: “We are here in solidarity with striking members of staff and to remind our University management where their sympathies should lie.
“This also a show of solidarity with occupying students across the UK.
“Representatives of our group met with Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli and Dr David Duncan on February 20 with a list of easily met demands – we cannot consider these to have been fulfilled. We have therefore been forced to escalate our actions in the hope that the management will finally do their duty.”
Among the demands is a call for senior management to show their full support for the strikers and full pay for staff participating in action.
Strikers at Strathclyde University asked for the Principal Sir Jim McDonald to make a public statement in support of the strikes and to back a no cuts pension settlement and support designated student clubs and societies rooms and debating chamber in the new Union building.
As the day progressed, representatives from Occupied Strathclyde, said staff had physically blocked entry to the protest and prevented food and water being delivered by a UCU rep. The situation was later remedied.
Earlier in the week UCU rejected a proposal drawn up at talks between the union and Universities UK (UUK) to end the university pensions strike.
A University of Glasgow spokesman said: “The students have been entirely peaceful in their action and the University is satisfied that there is no risk to health and safety.”