Striking staff at Strathclyde University will picket outside graduation ceremonies mext week.
The UNITE union, which represents hundreds of maintenance workers and technicians at the university, has launched a two week strike over controversial changes to a staff pension scheme.
Alison MacLean, UNITE regional coordinating officer, said members would be in force during Monday and Tuesdays' ceremonies.
“We will have a visible presence protesting outside those graduations, which is regrettable for the students who have worked very hard”, she said.
“It’s not what university staff want to do, but the university is to blame because of their failure to resolve this dispute as a result of a direct attack on UNITE members’ pensions. They should be held accountable.”
MacLean labelled university management's decision to move 1200 members of staff to a new pension scheme as a “cash grab”.
“This is an attack on my member's pensions by their employer”, she added. “They are some of the lowest paid members of the university- cleaners, janitorial staff, security staff, technicians, joiners, plumbers, electricians, many of whom have worked for the university for a long time.”
“Whichever way they try to dress it up, they are moving members’ pensions into an inferior scheme. It's a cash grab of surplus figures in the pension fund.”
MacLean added: “We recognise that financing of the sector is really difficult. There are a lot of universities with issues, but we would contend that Strathclyde is not one of those which has serious issues.
“They have not come to the unions with any other solutions. They see our members as easy targets.”
Knock-on effects on the university's cleaning and maintenance services are expected as the strike enters its second week on Monday.
MacLean said: “There are also day to day aspects on buildings where the cleaning and security of the buildings is not being undertaken, so it won’t take very long for the impacts of that to be felt.
“If there is a problem in one of the buildings with the electricity or plumbing, for example our members will not be there working to help.
A spokesperson for the Strathclyde University branch of academic union UCU told The Herald that the group “fully supports” the strikers.
They said: “UNITE has been pushed into this position due to the university's lack of willingness to act in good faith.
“As a result, teaching staff are unable to fulfill their duties. Buildings are not being cleaned and health and safety officers are not on site. All of this is impacting on students, the most important stakeholders in this whole endeavour.”
Simon, a student at the university, told The Herald: “The strikes have massively impacted library opening hours. It didn't open until 1pm on Thursday.
“The bins are all still tidy, however, buildings are closing earlier so lecturers have to make sure they finish the classes on time. Some tech labs are also being cancelled or moved to different buildings or times.”
Shouting slogans and waving red banners, members heard from leaders of the Scottish trade union movement, including Roz Foyer, general secretary of STUC.
Foyer told the crowd: “The [university’s actions are] legalised daylight robbery. They create a perverse incentive for universities to withdraw from pensions when they are in surplus.”
UNITE Scotland regional secretary Derek Thomson also spoke. He said: “An attack on pensions is an attack on working peoples’ terms and conditions and ability to plan ahead and retire.
“This short sighted move by the university will not go unchallenged.”
A Strathclyde University spokesperson said: “The University’s Court has unanimously supported a proposal to transition members of the Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF) into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS). This decision follows nine months of extensive staff consultation and engagement with campus unions.
“This decision has been made for the good of all of our staff and students and to secure a sustainable basis for Strathclyde’s continued success while maintaining excellent pension provisions for our staff. We are pleased that our colleagues who are members of Unison have voted to accept the proposal.
“However, we are disappointed UNITE members have chosen to take strike action. The University will take all necessary steps to ensure this action has minimal impact on our students, staff and operations.”
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