Staff go on strike at Scottish university over boycott pay deductions
Staff at the University of Stirling are expected to resign in a dispute over pay deductions from staff who participated in a grading and appraisal boycott earlier in the year.
Graduates who participated in an industry-wide boycott of grades and assessments as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions have seen their pay packets cut by 50% as a result.
Staff will go on strike every day of the week for the next three weeks, with industrial action at the start of the academic year when students return to campus after summer break.
They will be on the picket line from 11 a.m. Monday until September 22nd.
They will then take part in nationwide activities for another five days from September 25th to 29th.
The first two weeks of strike action will focus on the dispute over wage deductions, which the UCU has described as “disproportionate”.
Stirling University management launched an unprecedented 15-day strike against the University and our students at the start of the new academic year, taking a hard line on relations with their own workers
The UCU claims the deductions are “punitive and disproportionate” because the salary deducted does not reflect the percentage of time staff involved in the boycott spend correcting and grading students’ work.
The staff involved in the boycott have continued to carry out their jobs as normal, including carrying out their duties of mentoring and supporting students and conducting research.
Stirling is an ‘outlier’ in Scotland when it comes to deducting wages over a longer period of time, while other Scottish institutions collect less or no deductions at all.
These deductions have particularly impacted employees who are poorly paid amid a cost of living crisis.
Mary Senior, UCU Scotland Officer, said: “Stirling University leadership launched an unprecedented 15-day strike at the start of the new academic year against the university and our students by taking a hard line on relations with their own employees.”
“Other employers have limited deductions, but the University of Stirling’s aggressive approach is deeply disappointing.
“Staff want to welcome new students.
“The last thing we want to do is strike now.”
The university was contacted for comment.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-b1106056.html Staff go on strike at Scottish university over boycott pay deductions
