ACADEMIC staff at James Watt College are on strike again today.

This is the second of 31 scheduled strike days in protest at changes to pay and working conditions.

Teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland - Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS FELA) - said 92 per cent of academic staff supported the vote for stoppages.

The union says senior management are 'refusing to recognise their obligation to honour signed agreements, including one on no compulsory redundancies'.

EIS FELA, which has 260 members in the college, says proposals from management will see 28 senior lecturers having their contracts terminated and they will have to apply for 15 new 'learning enhancement leader' posts.

Those who are successful will see their salary fall from �43,000 a year to �39,000 and the others will go down to �36,000 as basic lecturers.

Strikers say only 43 per cent of college employees are involved in teaching, while there has been an expansion in administration.

But college bosses say the union had rejected a revised offer of a period of three years salary conservation for staff affected by planned changes to staff structure, and insisted there has been full consultation.

A student told the Tele: "We've been told the college will be open today and that we should attend as normal because if we don't it might affect our bursary entitlement." Further strikes are scheduled to take place over the coming months unless union leaders and college management can thrash out a deal to end the dispute.