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Edinburgh University staff vote for industrial action over £140m cuts and job losses

A ballot by the University and College Union (UCU) saw 84% vote in favour of strike action on a 60% turnout. 

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Edinburgh University staff vote for industrial action over £140m cuts and job losses
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Edinburgh University staff have backed industrial action in a dispute over management plans to cut £140m from the annual budget and the refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies.

A ballot by the University and College Union (UCU) saw 84% vote in favour of strike action on a 60% turnout. 

93% said they would take part in action short of strikes, including working to contract and not covering for absent colleagues. 

A marking and assessment boycott is also possible.

Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, principal and vice chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, announced on 25th February plans to make £140m in cuts, saying it could not be reached by voluntary redundancies alone. 

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Since then, the union has asked managers to rule out compulsory redundancies but they have not agreed.

The union said cuts of this size were unprecedented in Scottish higher education and questioned why they were needed when the university was not in deficit. 

The union added that the move was part of management’s plan to shift towards a more commercialised model. 

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It called for cuts to capital spending and the use of reserves instead of job losses, noting that management planned record capital expenditure while proposing job cuts.

The union said it wanted to work with the university but compulsory redundancies remained a red line. 

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Additionally, it said job cuts would mean larger classes, fewer courses, less teaching and less support for students, and reduced research. 

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The local branch is meeting in the coming days to consider next steps.

Jo Grady, general secretary at UCU, said: “Edinburgh University is hugely respected with a hard-won reputation for academic excellence. 

“The principal now needs to heed the repeated warnings given by staff and reverse these cuts, or he’s going to go down as the man who took a wrecking ball to the university’s five hundred year history and left it in a worse state than when he was appointed.”

Sophia Woodman, branch president at UCUEdinburgh, said: “This vote is a clear message from members to university management that they need to think again. 

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“The ballot result is a mandate for industrial action, and to oppose job cuts and the use of compulsory redundancies. 

“We want to work with senior management to build a sustainable future, but we need compulsory redundancies to be taken off the table and for there to be an honest discussion about why management are proposing job cuts and projecting deficits while, at the same time, increasing spending on new buildings.”

Woodman added: “Staff are angry and ready to fight to defend the future of teaching and research at Edinburgh, which are currently at risk from these damaging proposals.”

Mathieson said: “We have been transparent about the savings urgently needed to secure our financial footing, with forecasts showing that we will be in deficit from the next financial year should we not act now.

“Failure to take preventative steps would leave us in an unsustainable situation, requiring deeper savings. 

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“We respect colleagues’ right to take part in industrial action, and will do all we can to minimise disruption to students should this take place.”

Mathieson added: “We will also continue to work with our joint trade unions as plans develop to deliver these savings.”

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