New strike ballot at Edinburgh University in dispute over cuts and job losses

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the University of Edinburgh will today begin a new ballot in a new dispute over £140 million cuts and up to 1,800 job losses, workload, hidden redundancies and meaningful consultation with unions.

This follows on from a dispute which began a year ago in February 2025 which saw nine days of strike action taken by university staff as a result of university management refusing to rule out any use of compulsory redundancies.  In December last year a short-term deal was struck where management agreed to guarantee there would be no compulsory redundancies to the end of July 2026, and the union agreed, after a close vote of members, to no further industrial action during the existing mandate which finishes at the end of April 2026.

The new ballot could provide a new mandate and mean that the union will be able to take further industrial action if senior managers press on with their planned cuts, job losses and revert back to the possible use of compulsory redundancies after July.    Employment law has now changed with the introduction of the Employment Rights Act 2025, meaning that in the event of a 'yes' vote in this ballot the mandate will last for 12 months rather than six.

The union says that cuts at this level - they estimate up to 1,800 - are unprecedented and would be the largest ever seen in a Scottish university.  The university is one of the wealthiest in Scotland with reserves of over £3billion.  Last month the university confirmed that it was not in deficit. 

Claire Duncanson, vice-president of the Edinburgh UCU branch, said: "It was a clear win for members to get management to agree to rule out compulsory redundancies until the summer.  There remains more to do however, and we need a new mandate for strike action if we're going to be able to push management further on these clearly unnecessary cuts and job losses that take effect after July. 

"As shown in the most recent annual report, the university's finances are strong and healthy.  The level of cuts management continue to propose are neither needed nor can they be carried out without substantially damaging education and research along with the student experience and staff working conditions.  12 months after first announcing huge cuts without an idea how to go about it, and having put staff and students through needless stress and worry, the principal and his senior management team need to resolve this dispute and rule out the use of compulsory redundancies once and for all."

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: "A year after announcing the biggest cuts ever seen in Scottish higher education Edinburgh university management still can't tell us how many jobs they're looking to cut.  The union has pushed management and saved jobs during this dispute but we need a new mandate for strike action to push them further to rule out once and for all the threat of compulsory redundancies."