Staff taking strike action at the University of Glasgow’s Dumfries campus were given some moral support on the picket line this week.
South of Scotland MSP Colin Smyth joined the members of the Universities and Colleges Union on Monday.
And on Wednesday their ranks were swelled by representatives of the Dumfries Trades Union Council.
The three days of strike action this week was part of an ongoing national dispute over pay and pensions.
The UCU claims pay for university staff has been cut by 20 per cent in real terms since 2009 and proposed changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme could cut members’ retirement income by 35 per
cent.
It wants a £2,500 wage increase for members, an end to “pay injustice” and zero-hours contracts, as well as action to tackle “unmanageable workloads”.
The union’s regional representative, David Clelland, has accused the University of Glasgow, along with the other employers, of “forcing staff into industrial action to defend their pensions and basic pay and conditions”.
Mr Clelland said: “Despite the strength of feeling, the employers are this week pushing ahead with cuts to the pension scheme that will leave staff up to 35 per cent poorer in retirement while paying more in contributions.
“The principal of the University of Glasgow earns £368,000 a year but seems determined to cut the pay and retirement income of staff.”
Mr Clelland warned that strike action would continue with the Universities and Colleges Union to announce further dates.
The union is calling for pension cuts to be revoked, an improved pay offer, along with a commitment to “meaningful agreements and action” on casualisation, workload, and equality pay gaps.
So far, Universities and Colleges Employers Association have refused and its chief executive, Raj Jethwa, described the strike action “an unrealistic attempt to force all 146 employers to reopen the concluded 2021-22 national pay round”.
He urged the UCU to “engage constructively in this year’s (2022-23) multi-employer negotiating round which is planned to begin at the end of March”.
After his visit, Mr Smyth said: “There wasn’t a single person on the picket line who wanted to be there. Everyone would rather have been in the university teaching, but they feel they have no choice but to oppose those cuts.
“This dispute has run on for far too long and it’s time that the Scottish Government intervened and made clear to university bosses that these attacks on staff terms and conditions need to stop.”
