University of Lincoln staff vote for strike action

An overwhelming 86% of UCU members who voted backed strike action in a ballot that had a turnout of 61%.  

The dispute is over the announcement by the university to threaten up to 285 staff with redundancy, having previously told UCU that were no plans for large-scale cuts. This comes after 220 staff already lost their jobs through voluntary severance and redundancy last year. 

The union believes that whilst there are challenges across the sector, the crisis has been handled especially poorly at Lincoln, exacerbated by imprudent spending decisions and a management team operating with little input from academic staff, or accountability for their mistakes. 

UCU members at Lincoln passed a vote of no confidence in the university's senior leadership team last month, with 95% of participants indicating that they do not have faith in the university's managers.  

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said, "Far from safeguarding jobs, Vice Chancellor Neal Juster has announced plans to threaten nearly 300 staff with redundancy ahead of further 'restructuring' in the next academic year, and possibly beyond. Yearly cuts have damaged staff morale and management must look at this vote for strike action and begin listening to our concerns. If the vice-chancellor continues to refuse to change direction and rule out compulsory redundancies then we will be forced to strike.'