A group of Edinburgh University students disrupted the live recording of the flagship current affairs programme Radio 4 Today (3 December), as the BBC were slammed for crossing the picket line to record the programme at the Playfair Library during strike action.
Edinburgh University is one of sixty UK universities currently being hit with eight days of strike action from Monday 25 November until Wednesday 4 December by the University and College Union (UCU).
Last week UCU members backed strike action in two separate legal disputes, one on pensions and one on pay and working conditions.
79% of UCU members who voted reportedly backed strike action in the ballot over changes to pensions. In the ballot on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads, 74% of members polled backed strike action.
During the Today broadcast, students from the Occupi.Ed action group heckled Edinburgh University Principal Peter Mathieson, saying they were doing it to "call out his lying and lack of accountability."
Presenter Justin Webb asked Peter Mathieson if he believed that the strike action in Edinburgh and at other universities meant that there needed to be a 'root and branch' review of the way in which academics are employed and the way in which pay and pensions are calculated.
Mathieson replied to say that he is looking to make Edinburgh University an employer of choice but that there are some areas where they are "constrained by national pension negotiations".
He was interrupted by cries from the audience as he spoke, with Webb acknowledging the voices "crying out in the gallery" from people who feel they have been "incredibly badly treated for years. And that - to put it mildly - has been a mistake at the top of British universities".
Mathieson's reply - that people are clearly very highly in favour of higher pay awards - was interrupted by chants of "what's outrageous? Stolen wages" from the protestors, and "what about the pay gap?"
Due to the noise, Justin Webb cut the interview short, thanking "everyone who has taken part."
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