Watch: UK university students chant ‘pay your workers’ at graduation ceremony
University of Edinburgh students demonstrated their support for lecturers who have been demanding better pay.
📢 PAY YOUR WORKERS 📢
— Staff-Student Solidarity Network Edinburgh (@sssn_edi) July 11, 2023
This amazing video from the ECA graduations today show that students know what needs to be done to solve this dispute 💪 pic.twitter.com/OjRBg3Kp57
Hundreds of students chanted “pay your workers” at the graduation ceremony hosted at University of Edinburgh in the UK, amid lecturers and staffs protesting for better pay and conditions. Vice-Principal of the university was captured warning students to “settle down” and “keep it professional”, while students booed him from their seats (video above).
The students protested in solidarity with members of University and College Union (UCU), who have been boycotting to grade assessments and exams over pay and conditions. As a result, students received empty scrolls as degree certificates have not been not awarded, according to BBC News.
The disruption at the ceremony coincided as hundreds – including university staff, students, and families – turned out at Bristo Square to protest against the university’s response and lack of negotiation surrounding the UCU’s ‘Marking and Assessment Boycott’. The boycott has left around 2,000 students unable to graduate with any degree, looking ahead at a bleak future.