ACADEMICS and administrative staff have staged a third day of strike action in a bitter dispute.

Members of four unions - EIS, Unite, Unison and the University and College Union - joined a national walkout, with lecturers in Edinburgh waving placards at the Scottish Parliament.

The dispute centres on a 1% pay rise offered to university staff, which the unions insist means there has been a 13% pay cut in real terms since October 2008. Picture: Stewart Attwood