Eight days of strikes at Scottish universities

An eight-day strike at 12 Scottish universities is underway.

The action has been taken after an agreement between university representatives and the University and College Union (UCU) over pensions, pay and working conditions failed to be reached.

Staff at the Scottish universities are joining those from a further 48 across the UK in taking the industrial action.

A rally is due to take place at Bristo Square in Edinburgh on Monday afternoon.

Across Scotland, 78 per cent of UCU members polled voted to strike over changes to pensions and 73 per cent backed strike action over pay and conditions.  

UCU's Scotland official Mary Senior said: “Strike action is always the last resort, but universities' refusal to deal with the key issues of increased pension costs, pay and working conditions leave no alternative. It is unbelievable that universities have not done more to work with us to try and find a way to resolve these disputes

“We're asking students to call on university principals to get their representatives back to negotiating table for serious talks.”

The Scottish universities affected by the strike are: Heriot-Watt, Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian, Glasgow School of Art, Queen Margaret and Scottish Association for Marine Science.