The Scottish Government has been accused of "taking no interest" in potential disruption to school exams as SQA members walked out in the first of two planned strikes.
Around 400 members of Unite walked out on Friday, February 23, with picket lines at the organisation's offices in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
It follows a breakdown in talks on a new pay award for staff, with another 24 hour strike scheduled to take place on February 29.
Unite said that for the majority of its members the pay offer on the table means no more than a 5.75% uplift for 2023 and 3.15% for 2024.
The union had asked for an extra 1.5% for the latter year, or to offer one year at 5.75% with further negotiations to follow, but no deal could be found at talks on Tuesday.
One staff member on the picket line told The Herald: "We were told by the SQA on Tuesday that the money is in the bank, waiting and ready to be paid, that it’s affordable ‘by definition’ - which were the chief executive’s own words - and yet they can’t pay it to us because the Scottish Government – and again I quote – ‘won’t allow us’.
“We feel we’re stuck in the middle of a situation between the SQA and the Scottish Government, the SQA keep saying their hands are tied by the government and the government keep saying it’s a matter for the employer.
"The Scottish Government have taken no interest in resolving this dispute, they’ve taken no interest in the disruption that will be caused to the learners of Scotland because of this.
“There will be ineffective verification procedures, ineffective coursework marking which could have an impact on examination marking, and we’re seeing already the impact of action short of a strike on question paper production for contingency papers and new papers for next year.
“The organisation are claiming that there’s not going to be disruption and they have robust contingencies in place – it’s a load of rubbish and our 400 members can attest to that.”
