Strike ballot opens at University of Essex in fight to save campus & jobs

Members of the UCU will vote in the ballot, which opens today and runs until Monday, 19 January, paving the way for potential strike action as soon as February.

The university wrote to all 2,974 members of staff last week (Thursday 11 December), just as they were breaking up for the Christmas holidays, to tell them they were at risk of redundancy.

Management intends to axe 200 academic staff and 200 professional services staff, meaning more than one in 10 of the workforce would lose their job. It wants to issue redundancy notices by May and mothball the Southend campus over the summer.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'It is cruel that Essex University has chosen to ruin Christmas for thousands of staff by putting them all at risk of redundancy as they break up for the holidays.

'Decimating the staff body like this is nothing short of academic vandalism. It is impossible to axe one in 10 employees without hurting students and severely degrading the teaching and research capacity of the university.

'Southend campus is home to hundreds of students, is a key cultural hub for the local community and a driver of growth in the local economy. Its closure would devastate the city. We urge the university to think again and work with us to save jobs and protect the campus. If it refuses to do so, our members will have no choice but to strike to defend their jobs, their students and the local community.'