
Strike ballot opens at University of East Anglia over swingeing job cuts
14 January 2025
A strike ballot has opened at the University of East Anglia (UEA) after almost one in six staff were put at risk of redundancy.
The ballot will run until Tuesday 4 February, and a successful result will pave the way for strike action to begin later that month unless management rules out compulsory redundancies.
The dispute is over management's threat to cut over 190 staff to meet continued budget shortfalls at the institution. According to the business case published in November (2024), management intends to cut at least 30 staff in the faculty of medicine & health sciences, 25 in the faculty of science, 22 in the faculty of arts & humanities, and at least 90 from departments across professional services at the institution.
This dispute follows over 400 staff leaving UEA in 2023 due to management's projected £40m deficit in that year.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Our members will be voting yes to strike action because they refuse to pay the price for management's continued failings. Just 18 months ago, UEA staff were on strike in a dispute which saw one in ten of the former workforce lose their jobs. For management to come back to the table and say almost one in six are now at risk raises fundamental questions about the leadership and governance of this institution.
'Senior managers have a small window of opportunity to end the cycle of decline and work with our members to secure the future of the university, if they refuse to do so they are laying the ground for significant industrial unrest.'
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