Strike action by UHI Perth support staff
Walkout sees college buildings and nursery closed
Support staff at UHI Perth took to the picket lines yesterday in a dispute over pay and job security.
UNISON union members were pictured outside the college campus on Crieff Road yesterday morning as part of a nationwide walkout.
In-person classes were cancelled and all college buildings were closed, except for the Academy of Sports and Wellbeing (ASW) and Goodlyburn.
The campus nursery was also closed for the day.
More than 2,000 members at 21 Scottish colleges – including those at Dundee and Angus, and Fife – took part in the industrial action.
UNISON, which represents support staff such as librarians, IT specialists, administrators, cleaners, canteen workers and estate management staff, says members are still waiting for a pay rise that was due in September 2022 and want colleges to guarantee any pay rises won’t be at the expense of jobs.
The dispute has been ongoing for 18 months with UHI Perth staff also taking part in industrial action last September and October. College Employers Scotland had increased its offer to UNISON members from two per cent to a consolidated pay rise of £5,000 over three years.
However, the proposal came with plans for 50 compulsory redundancies to support staff in Perth.
The college said it is struggling to bridge a £3 million funding gap, citing cost-of-living increases and the removal of funding by the Scottish Government as the cause.
This led to UNISON staff in Perth expressing three “unprecedented” votes of no confidence in senior leadership with an open letter urging UHI Perth principal Dr Margaret Cook to resign.
UNISON Scotland’s further education branch secretary, Chris Greenshields, said college staff up and down the country have “had enough”.
He said:“it has been 78 weeks since staff were due their pay rise and they are demanding that this dispute is settled free from the threat of compulsory redundancy.
“UNISON is committed to reaching a resolution to this dispute and submitted revised proposals in December to resolve matters which the colleges took over two months to reject.
“It beggars belief that employers haven’t even bothered to meet the unions since early December. College staff want an end to this dispute and to get back to the jobs they love – supporting learners.”
A spokesperson for College Employers Scotland said the strike action was “regrettable” and that it only causes further disruption for students.
“UNISON has been offered a consolidated pay rise of £5,000 alongside other college support staff over three years,” they added.
“This is the employers’ full and final offer and remains on the table despite the exceptionally difficult financial circumstances facing colleges.
If accepted, it would deliver an average pay rise of nearly 16 per cent for support staff going back to September 2022, and 21.5 per cent for support staff earning less than £25,000.
“Unite and GMB members have already voted overwhelmingly to accept the offer – but UNISON members need to do the same before any additional money can be paid to college support staff.”
A UHI Perth statement read: “We are working hard to minimise the impact on our students and their studies caused by the industrial action by continuing to support the ongoing negotiations and strongly hope that further discussions can resolve the national pay dispute and bring the industrial action to an end.”