THOUSANDS of workers across Scottish colleges took to picket lines and rallied at Holyrood today as they fight two years’ worth of pay cuts.

Members of Unison, including librarians, IT specialists, administrators, cleaners and canteen staff, have joined forces with teaching comrades in EIS-Fela to demand a wage boost that was due to have been delivered in September 2022.

College Employers Scotland (CES) has offered a 16 per cent uplift from September 2024, but — without backdating to cover the two-year negotiation period which has seen rocketing food and energy prices and the highest inflation in a generation — workers have rejected it as real-terms pay cut.