THOUSANDS of education workers and three trade unions will join forces in a strike next week to demand an end to pay cuts and redundancies in Scotland’s crisis-ridden college sector.

More than 2,000 members of Unison and 100 of Unite at colleges across Scotland, including librarians, IT specialists, technicians, administrative and business support staff, cleaners, canteen workers and estate management staff, will take to picket lines on Thursday next week.

The action will coincide with teaching union EIS-Fela staging a national day of action and is expected to bring the colleges to a standstill.

College workers were infuriated when the employers improved on an initial pay proposal of 2 per cent by making a flat cash offer of £3,500 over two years but attached strings which could include a raft of compulsory redundancies.

Unison further education branch secretary Chris Greenshields said: “The employers’ idea of a resolution to the crisis is to threaten our members with compulsory redundancy.

“Effectively, members are being asked to pay for their own pay rise with their jobs during a cost-of-living crisis.

“We need the same guarantee that has been given to the rest of the public sector that there will be no compulsory redundancies.

“Unison has appealed to the Scottish government to help us find a solution — employers must extend the no-compulsory-redundancy guarantee to college staff.

“Colleges are publicly funded, but the government refuses to intervene.

“The minister seems willing to allow the strikes to proceed rather than ensure staff get a decent pay rise.”

The following week, 1,000 Unite members at the universities of Glasgow, Dundee, Abertay, Edinburgh Napier and Strathclyde will begin five days of strikes over pay.

The industrial action, from September 13 to 15 and on September 18 and 19, comes after workers at the universities had below-inflation pay rises of between 5 and 6 per cent imposed and just a year after a mere 2 per cent increase as inflation skyrocketed.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Any disruption to students will be on the heads of those running the pay bodies, colleges and universities, who incidentally are not suffering any cost-of-living crisis.

“Unite will fully support our higher and further education members in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”

College Employers Scotland’s Gavin Donoghue said: “Employers have also committed to managing organisational change through voluntary measures in accordance with the Fair Work agenda.

“Any compulsory measures would only be used as a last resort when all other measures have been considered.”