DOZENS of university support staff at Plymouth Marjon University joined this week’s 48-hour walkout as part of their ongoing dispute with senior managers over pay.

Alison Spencer, accommodation manager at Marjon, said: “I have been working in my role for the past 31 years and I expected to struggle at the start of my career — but this coming month I will end the month in a deficit.

“I have been struggling to break even for some time, but with living costs increasing I am now at a point where my outgoings are starting to exceed my income.

“I never expected to be in this position at this time of my life.”

Unison area organiser Simon Wintle told the Morning Star the union paid for the ice cream as a treat for pickets.

He said: “We’ve had people joining the union and saying, ‘Yes, I support this’ and taking strike action on the second day. It shows that it does work — and people have reached a tipping point.”

The pickets were joined by thousands of colleagues at universities across the country this week as they stepped up their demand for a fair wage rise to reverse many years of real-terms pay cuts.

The two-day action, part of a wider series of co-ordinated strikes at 17 universities in England and four in Scotland, was due to end with an online rally last night.

Unison South West head of higher education Chris Roche said: “Support staff play a crucial role to help students learn and develop at university, but for years the value of their pay has been under attack by vice-chancellors who are living it up on six-figure salaries from student tuition fees.”

The university was contacted for comment.