University staff walk out over pension scheme

Staff at eight Scottish universities will walk out today as a union begins 10 days of industrial action in its battle to stop what its leader has described as “brutal pension cuts”.

Over the next five days university workers from Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-watt, St Andrews, Stirling, Strathclyde and the Open University in Scotland will strike after the University and College Union (UCU) said they had “refused to withdraw cuts” to their pension scheme.

The action will continue over the following two weeks, bringing 10 days of disruption to students in the pay, pensions and working conditions dispute, with around 6,000 staff in Scotland due to take to the picket line.

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said students and staff had been failed as senior management pushed through “brutal pension cuts”, and said they have “done nothing to address falling pay, pay inequality, the rampant use of insecure contracts and unmanageable workloads”.

“It is outrageous that when they should be trying to resolve this dispute, employer representatives have instead been finding new ways to deduct pay from university workers,” she said.

“Rather than punishing their workforce, these socalled leaders need to look in the mirror and ask why students support staff taking strike action and why their own workforce is so demoralised.”

The union said its members had suffered a 20% real-terms pay cut over the past 12 years, and had been subjected to unmanageable workloads.

UCU Scotland is set to hold a rally in Glasgow city centre today.