University staff who took part in strike action should only be deducted wages from the time they were absent from work, a local election candidate has said.
Magee campus of the University of Ulster.
Staff from the Magee College campus of the University of Ulster were among those who took part in the strike over pay and workloads towards the end of last year.
Lecturers and support staff picketing the Magee campus on Rock Road as part of a nationwide dispute which also involved staff at Queen’s University in Belfast.
Sinn Fein election candidate Liam Friel said members of University and College Union (UCU) should only be deducted pay for the time they were out in strike.
He was speaking after the University of Ulster and Queen’s said they would deduct a full day’s pay for UCU members who embarked on the two hour strike.
Mr Friel said: “I believe this is an attempt to penalise union members over their right to strike.
Sinn Fein’s Liam Friel.
Mr Friel said the stoppage, held to highlight a wage increase of one per cent, was a “legitimate action” organised through the union.
He added: “People who participate in the strike realise that the two hour stoppage will be unpaid but the threat by the Universities to deduct a full days pay is vindictive and does nothing to resolve the issue.”
Mr Friel concluded: “People have a right to be paid for work carried out and I am calling on the Universities to remove the threat of deduction and negotiate with the Union so that normal service can be resumed at our Universities.”
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