University faces one-day strike

The 24-hour support staff strike will be followed by an overtime ban

Support staff at the University of Wales, Newport, are to stage a 24-hour strike in a pay and conditions dispute.

Unison accused the university of trying to "force through changes to contracts and job roles".

Next Friday's strike will fall on the third day of an award ceremony, with BBC news presenter Huw Edwards among those receiving honorary fellowships.

The university said it had tried to find an early solution and was "deeply disappointed" by Unison's response.

Unison said nearly 120 staff in library and information services were affected by the university's proposals.

The union claimed the university's plans would "potentially undermine" the nationally agreed Higher Education Role Analysis (Hera) scheme, which it said aimed to relate pay to duties and responsibilities and to ensure men and women were paid equally.

We refute entirely Unison's statement that this is designed to save money or to ask staff to undertake additional duties at the same pay grade University of Wales, Newport

Lecturers will not be among those involved in this action.

The union said the strike raised the prospect of graduates, their families and VIPs, who will also include Newport-born actor and TV presenter Josie D'Arby, "having to run the picket gauntlet".

The one-day strike will be followed by an indefinite overtime ban from Monday, which Unison said would cause disruption to student registration and admissions.

Dominic MacAskill, Unison's regional organiser, said he was "disappointed with the university's management for allowing this issue to develop into such a major confrontation".

Mr MacAskill said that if the university issued "termination notices" to any staff who refused to co-operate, then Unison would "look to involve the whole of our membership in the university in support of the threatened workers."

Unison claimed the university was trying to implement change "irrespective of the concerns of their own staff".

'Significant amount'

The university of Wales said it "very much regrets the industrial action being taken by a small number of Unison members".

In a statement it said it had been been consulting with Unison since last November but no ideas to improve the proposals have been forthcoming.

"We refute entirely Unison's statement that this is designed to save money or to ask staff to undertake additional duties at the same pay grade - indeed additional posts have been created in the revised structure to enhance the student experience.

"The university has done a significant amount of work to ensure that the impact of our new pay grading structure has been taken fully into account."

It said it sought an early resolution to the dispute and was "deeply disappointed" at the planned industrial action.