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UCU members at King's College vote for strike action

22 March 2010

Members of UCU at King's College London have today voted overwhelmingly in favour of both strike action and action short of a strike in their fight to save jobs.

Over two-thirds of staff (70%) who voted supported strike action and over four-fifths (85%) agreed to action short of a strike. The union said the high turnout - 64% - was indicative of the strength of feeling among UCU members across the country over savage funding cuts and damaging job losses.
 
There are 205 posts at risk of redundancy and more expected to follow. The union says King's College has to explain why it sees fit to axe staff and shut distinguished departments when it has cash reserves of £180m and has opened a £20m fund to cover the running costs of the East Wing of Somerset House.
 
The Engineering department is to be closed after 170 years at King's, the Equalities and Diversity department has been scrapped and there are threats to Philosophy, Information Resources, American Studies and the only Chair of Palaeography in the UK.
 
The nature and timing of industrial action will become much clearer in the next few days. A dispute at the University of Leeds was resolved last week following talks between the union and the university. UCU hopes similar progress can be made at King's and strike action avoided.
 
The result is the third successive UCU ballot with a high turnout calling for industrial action in fights to save jobs. Leeds and Sussex both delivered similar results and there will be ballots opening at Westminster University and University College London tomorrow. Locally at King's the union is furious that the university broke off talks four weeks ago when it could have been trying to resolve the dispute.
 
UCU King's representative, Jim Wolfreys, said: 'UCU members have today delivered a clear mandate for industrial action at King's. There is now an urgent need for the principal and his management team to listen to colleagues, halt the redundancy programme and offer firm guarantees that they will engage in constructive negotiations about the future of the college.
 
'This crisis has come about because senior management have made redundancies their first, rather than last, resort. We intend to defend our colleagues' livelihoods and the education of our students: today's result underlines the resolve of our members to do precisely this.'
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Industrial action is always a last resort but the bottom line is that serious job losses will impact massively across King's and result in a far worse experience for students.
 
'By refusing to engage in talks and allowing the crisis to escalate, management at King's have ensured that their credibility is now also an issue. There is an urgent expectation, across the college and in the wider academic community, for King's management to now start meaningful negotiations with us.'
Last updated: 11 December 2015

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