College lecturers have voted overwhelmingly to escalate industrial action in a bitter battle over pay.
Under the move, members of the EIS Further Education Lecturers' Association (EIS-FELA) could withhold student assessment results.
Colleges Scotland, which represents managers, said the escalation was an "unprecedented and disgraceful attack" on students at a critical time for them and their futures.
The union has taken part in four strikes since January in a dispute over cost of living rises to their salaries.
Read more: Row as college management appeal to lecturers not to strike
EIS-FELA says its members have been offered a two per cent consolidated pay rise covering a three year period which it argues does not cover increases in inflation.
However, the employers' association, Colleges Scotland, argues most lecturers have received significant increases in recent years because of an agreement to harmonise pay across the country.
They say colleges cannot afford to pay for any further rises and doing so would lead to course cuts and job losses.
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, said the new forms of action included a boycott of inputting assessment results into college management systems.
He said: "This ballot result confirms that Scotland’s College lecturers remain fully committed to the EIS-FELA campaign for a fair cost of living pay increase.
"The turnout in this ballot is higher than the turnout in our previous ballot for strike action, providing clear evidence that the mood amongst college lecturers is hardening.
Read more: Lecturers pass 'no confidence' vote on college management
"This ballot result also proves that the recent claim from Colleges Scotland that support for the campaign was waning is simply misleading propaganda from an organisation which seems to be more interested in attempting to union-bust than reach a settlement.”
However, John Gribben, director of employment services at Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association, said only one third of all lecturers had voted to support the "appalling ploy" of withholding assessment marks.
Describing the action as a "attack on students" he said: "We are extremely disappointed EIS-FELA is committed to recklessly gambling with the futures of college students. It is not the behaviour anyone would expect from a professional body.
“By withholding assessment results, the EIS-FELA will wreak havoc with students’ life opportunities, as without external verification by awarding bodies, they would be unable to achieve their qualifications, meaning they would be unable to move on to other courses at college or university, finalise their apprenticeships or move into jobs conditional on passing courses.
“Lecturers in Scotland are by far the best paid in the UK, and harmonisation rises from 2017 to 2020, combined with the current pay offer on the table, equate to a national average increase of over £5,000 or more than 12%."
More than 54 per cent of EIS-FELA members voted in the ballot with nearly 90 per cent backing an escalation of strike action.
Talks are due to take place on Friday between the union and college management.
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