Strike action ballot at University of Dundee over job losses
20 March 2015
Members of UCU at the University of Dundee are being balloted for strike action in a row over job losses. The university plans to get rid of 70 posts, on top of 55 that it axed last year. The ballot closes at 12pm on Monday 13 April 2015.
The union said the planned job losses were an insult to hardworking staff who have recently been praised for their excellent results in December's REF (Research Excellence Framework) results.
The university's vice-principal for research, Professor John Connell, lavished praise on the very staff the university are now trying to get rid of saying the REF outcome was a 'very strong result for Dundee and testament to the hard work of our staff across the university.'
The union said that strike action would be a last resort, but that staff felt that they had no alternative. Staff are also being asked if they are willing to take action short of a strike, which could consist of things like only working contracted hours.
Ian Ellis, Dundee UCU branch representative, said: 'For staff to be told on one hand they're a credit to the university and on the other that they're at risk of being made redundant is insulting.
'Strike action is always a last resort, but we have exhausted all other avenues and have been left with no other option. Dundee is a great university but it will only continue to be so if the staff who undertake the research and teach the students are there to do the jobs in the first place.'
The university's vice-principal for research, Professor John Connell, lavished praise on the very staff the university are now trying to get rid of saying the REF outcome was a 'very strong result for Dundee and testament to the hard work of our staff across the university.'
The union said that strike action would be a last resort, but that staff felt that they had no alternative. Staff are also being asked if they are willing to take action short of a strike, which could consist of things like only working contracted hours.
Ian Ellis, Dundee UCU branch representative, said: 'For staff to be told on one hand they're a credit to the university and on the other that they're at risk of being made redundant is insulting.
'Strike action is always a last resort, but we have exhausted all other avenues and have been left with no other option. Dundee is a great university but it will only continue to be so if the staff who undertake the research and teach the students are there to do the jobs in the first place.'
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