Staff at Ayrshire College are set to go on strike later this month in an ongoing row over pay and jobs, a union has warned.

More than 2,000 support staff at colleges across the country, including Ayrshire College, will walk out on Thursday, February 29, according to public sector union UNISON.

Among the staff set to go on strike are librarians, IT specialists, administrators, cleaners, canteen workers and estate management staff.

UNISON says its members are still waiting for a pay rise that was due in September 2022.

The union wants colleges to guarantee that any pay rises won't be at the expense of jobs.  

The dispute has been ongoing for 18 months.

Last December, UNISON members voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action to continue their campaign for fair pay and to protect jobs.

The union says college leaders must make an improved pay offer and guarantee there will no compulsory redundancies if they want to avoid further disruption.

Chris Greenshields, UNISON Scotland’s further education branch secretary, said: “College support staff deserve a fair pay rise without the threat of compulsory redundancies.

“Nobody wants to be on strike, but staff have been left with little choice. The union submitted a revised proposal to try and move things along back in December and it took college bosses two months to reject it.”

An Ayrshire College spokesperson said: “As this is a national dispute, Ayrshire College is limited in the actions it can take to resolve the situation.

"Our priority is to do everything possible to limit the impact of industrial action on our students.

"We will communicate with our students regarding campus and class arrangements for the affected dates.”

Other colleges which will be affected by the strike if it goes ahead are Borders College, City of Glasgow College, Dumfries & Galloway College, Dundee & Angus College, Edinburgh College, Fife College, Forth Valley College, Glasgow Clyde College, Glasgow Kelvin College, New College Lanarkshire, Newbattle Abbey College, North East Scotland College, South Lanarkshire College, University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Argyll, UHI Inverness, UHI Moray, UHI North, West and Hebrides, UHI Perth, West College Scotland, and West Lothian College.