University staff in Stirling are in the middle of their first week of a walkout over pay, pensions and conditions.
The 10 days of action have been organised by the University and College Union (UCU), with eight institutions across Scotland affected - including Stirling University.
This week’s five-day action is related to the pensions through the University Superannuation Scheme, with the union claiming that employers had failed to withdraw cuts to the scheme or accept modified plans which would have seen staff and employers pay more to resolve the dispute.
Further walkouts are scheduled to take place both next week - on February 21 and February 22 - over the pension issues, as well as pay and conditions; with a third three-day strike planned for February 28 to March 2 over pay and conditions only.
The UCU has made calls for employers to make changes to the pension scheme and formally accept its compromise proposals and also support a £2500 pay increase for all staff.
It is also demanding universities and institutions take “action to tackle unmanageable workloads, pay inequality and the use of insecure and exploitative contracts”.
The latest strikes follow on from similar action in December, again over issues related to pensions, pay and working conditions.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “The action is down to vice-chancellors who have failed staff and students.
“They have pushed through brutal pension cuts and done nothing to address falling pay, pay inequality, the rampant use of insecure contracts and unmanageable workloads.
“Throughout these disputes, our union has offered simple solutions that would avert industrial action and benefit the sector in the long-term, but time and again employers have chosen to continue pushing staff to breaking point, while the sector continues to bring in tens of billions of pounds each year.
“To avoid this period of industrial action all vice-chancellors had to do was accept UCU’s viable pension proposals and take action over worsening pay and working conditions. That they didn’t is an abject failure of their leadership.”
On this week’s pensions dispute, a spokesperson for USS Employers responded: “We understand that strike action is unsettling for students and particularly after the disruption of the last two years – so it is disappointing that once again a small minority plan to walk out today.
“The numbers taking strike action have fallen in every walkout since 2018 – only nine per cent of staff at affected institutions took part in the last strike in December and the impact of their actions was low.
“Universities however are well prepared to protect students and ensure they do not miss out on the opportunity to learn during this time.
“Employers still want to resolve the dispute and will continue to meet with the union, but any solution must be affordable and viable – it is not in the interests of staff or students for employers to agree to the UCU’s completely unaffordable demands on pensions and pay, which would damage education, research and force job losses.”
