
Staff to strike at Scottish college over marking boycott pay deductions

taff on the University of Stirling are set to stroll out in a dispute over deductions from the pay of workers who took half in a marking and evaluation boycott earlier this yr.
Academic workers who participated in a sector large marking and evaluation boycott in an ongoing dispute over pay and situations had pay packets docked by 50% because of this.
For the subsequent three weeks, workers will strike every weekday with industrial motion going down firstly of the tutorial yr as college students return to campus following the summer season break.
They will take to the picket line from 11am on Monday till September 22.
Following this, they can even participate in UK large motion for an additional 5 days from September 25-29.
The first two weeks of the strike motion will give attention to the dispute over the pay deductions which UCU have referred to as “disproportionate”.
Stirling college administration has introduced an unprecedented 15 days of strike motion at first of the brand new tutorial yr on the college and our college students by taking a tough line stance on relations with their very own staff
UCU declare the deductions had been “punitive and disproportionate” because the wage deducted didn’t replicate the share of time workers taking part within the boycott spend marking and assessing college students’ work.
Staff collaborating within the boycott have continued to work usually together with finishing up their duties supervising and offering help to college students, in addition to finishing up analysis.
Stirling is an “outlier” in Scotland in making pay deductions for a chronic time frame with different Scottish establishments taking a smaller quantity or having finished away utterly with any deductions.
These deductions have significantly impacted workers on low pay within the midst of a cost-of-living disaster.
Mary Senior, Scotland official UCU, mentioned: “Stirling university management has brought an unprecedented 15 days of strike action at the start of the new academic year on the university and our students by taking a hard line stance on relations with their own workers.
“Other employers have limited deductions, but Stirling university’s belligerent approach is deeply disappointing.
“Staff want to be welcoming new students.
“The last thing we want to be doing is taking strike action now.”
A spokesperson for the University of Stirling mentioned: “The university is disappointed that industrial action is taking place.
“Our focus is on ensuring our new and returning students are warmly welcomed to the university over the coming days and disruption is minimal.
“Marking and the facilitation of assessments form part of the contractual duties of teaching staff and are fundamental to the progress of our students.
“The small number of staff who participated in the marking and assessment boycott, as part of sector-wide industrial action, were advised prior to the action that part of their pay would be withheld if they chose not to mark or assess work.”