Lecturers threaten marking boycott second year running

Staff at nine Scottish universities support industrial action over their pensions – which could include marking boycotts and affect students’ finals.

Conflict over the pensions debate intensified as it emerged that over three quarters of staff across the UK supported strike action.

Happy staff = happy graduates

A ballot held by the University and College Union showed staff want to strike against “radical changes” to their pension schemes from the USS.

Union members are concerned recent scheme changes could create pension deficits.

Staff at nine universities in Scotland – Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Stirling, St Andrews, Strathclyde, Glasgow and the Scottish Association of Marine Science at UHI – were among those balloted.

The Union has claimed that changes made within the USS (the main pension scheme provided by universities) has caused a pension deficit which will affect UCU members.

Because of this many are now in favour of industrial action.

This could include a marking boycott and refusal to set exams which would affect hundreds of thousands of students across the country, and could prevent some from graduating.

Marking boycotts could affect graduation

Meetings are planned with the university employer representatives tomorrow to discuss the matter, with another meeting on Friday to discuss industrial action should the demands of the UCU not be met.

Mary Senior, a UCU Scotland official, said: “We will go into that meeting with a serious mandate from members that they need to see real improvements.

“If the employers do not address our concerns then we will meet on Friday to determine what forms of disruptive action we take and when they would start.”