Five-day strike at Edinburgh University at start of new term over cuts and job losses

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the University of Edinburgh today begin the first of five days of strike action over senior managers' plans to cut £140million from the annual budget and cut up to 1,800 jobs, including by compulsory redundancies.

Staff will be on picket lines across the university and will hold a rally from 12noon today at George Square in Edinburgh.

The strike lasts throughout the week and covers the 'welcome week' at the university which sees new students arrive on campus for the first time.  As well as taking strike action, members have been taking action short of strike since 20 June, which includes working to contract and not volunteering for duties or covering for absent colleagues. 

Cuts were announced by the university principal, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, in an email to staff in February where he identified the £140million figure and said that cuts of this scale would require the use of compulsory redundancies.  The union said that cuts of this magnitude were the largest ever seen in the history of Scottish higher education and dispute the need for them pointing out that there is no deficit.  Rather than cutting jobs, the union said that it is open to negotiations and that cuts can be avoided by using reserves and cutting back on building work and capital expenditure.  The university is one of the richest in the country and the union said that it could afford to rule out compulsory redundancies. 

The industrial action follows an earlier strike day on 20 June when UCU members walked out during a university open day.  On that day, university management tried to make members of other unions not on strike at the university undertake roles that aren't part of their day-to-day jobs or that they were familiar with, including having staff who work in finance give library tours to prospective students rather than library staff. 

Branch president, Sophia Woodman, said: "Students arriving this week on campus and starting their university journey should be able to be confident that they'll complete their studies in a university that retains its current reputation for excellence and that offers students the courses they signed up for, as well as the support they need to do well in their studies.  It's impossible, though, to cut 1,800 staff from any university without seriously impacting the teaching, research and student experience and damaging the university's reputation.  No-one wants to go on strike, but staff are sounding the alarm about the impact of these cuts. Staff are striking because they have no choice but to take this week's action to force senior management to re-engage, to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies and to end this dispute."

UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, said: "Edinburgh university is a wealthy institution, with large reserves.  Instead of pressing on with cuts and job losses, Peter Mathieson needs to listen to staff at the university, engage with the union and commit to ruling out the use of compulsory redundancies.  Anything else is academic vandalism on an unprecedented scale."