MORE than 40 students from Edinburgh University held a sit-in at the office of the institution's finance director in support of a UK-wide protest by lecturers over pay.
Members of the Edinburgh University Anti-Cuts Coalition group, including one wearing a giant panda head, occupied the office while others protested outside.
The peaceful demonstration came as university staff across the UK are set to go on strike today claiming their pay - which is negotiated nationally rather than by individual institutions - has fallen by some 13% in real terms over the past four years.
Lecturers and support staff will be on picket lines from 7.30am at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, St Andrews and Dundee universities, while there will also be rallies in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Dave Anderson, president of the UCU Scotland union, which represents university staff, said: "Staff in universities across Scotland are taking strike action tomorrow to say enough is enough.
"They have seen their pay slashed in real terms since 2009 and this year's miserly pay offer of 1% at a time of rising bills was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Staff love their jobs, but their goodwill cannot continue to be taken for granted.
"Nobody wants to take strike action and lose a day's pay, but we feel we have been left with no alternative."
Gordon Maloney, President of student body NUS Scotland, backed the action.
"We continue to strongly back higher education union members' request for a reasonable pay rise and urges universities to offer fresh proposals," he said.
Kirsty Haigh, vice-president of Edinburgh University Students' Association, which staged the sit-in, added: "Edinburgh University and the university sector generally has plenty of money.
"We see this every day with millions going on vanity projects and senior managers' pay."
A spokesman for the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which negotiates pay on a UK wide basis, said: "The 1% offer has been made at a time when the UK higher education sector continues to face considerable financial uncertainties.
"Meeting the trade unions' pay claim of 7% would cost the sector in the region of £1bn. We hope trade union members will consider the wider situation facing their institution, their sector and their students as they decide on the most appropriate course of action."
Meanwhile, Professor Anton Muscatelli, principal of Glasgow University, has written to students reassuring them that graduation ceremonies on Tuesday will go ahead as planned.
He said: "Some of the trades unions have indicated they intend to take strike action in a UK wide dispute over pay."
"We would like to assure you that we have spoken with the trade unions involved at a local level and that the proposed action will have no impact on the graduation ceremony, which will proceed as planned.
"We wanted to let you know this as there may be some trade union presence at the entrance to the university when you and your party arrive."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article