'Desperately worried': Edinburgh University staff prepare for new strike action
The University of Edinburgh is under increasing pressure as staff vote to continue industrial action against swingeing cuts
Edinburgh University staff are to strike for the third time amid claims of “desperate worry” about their livelihoods.
Academics will form a picket line next week in a bid to increase pressure on university management determined to make £140 million in cuts with the loss of around 1800 jobs.
Having taking industrial action in June and September, Members of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) have voted through a second mandate on industrial action and the walk out will occur from November 17 to 19.
If management does not settle with the union, a representative said, then there may be further action such as working to contract possibly including a marking and assessment boycott.
The UCU has contacted students to alert them to the action and make them aware there will be no teaching on strike days next week.
Sophia Woodman, UCU Edinburgh branch president, said the ongoing dispute, first sparked in February, is taking its toll on staff.
“Many colleagues are desperately worried about their livelihoods,” the senior lecturer said.
“People have devoted their lives to their jobs, and they're facing the threat of that coming to an end in a context when we know that academic jobs are vanishingly few.
“People are very angry as well, because Edinburgh is one of the winners in this marketized higher education system.
“It has sucked up students who might have gone elsewhere in the market for students.
“It's made enormous sums of money and has one of the largest pots of endowment in the whole of UK.”
Cuts were first mooted in February with the university saying savings will be made by the end of the academic year.
Asked for a timeline or current status of the redundancy process, the university did not respond.
UCU members are calling for guarantees that job losses will not include compulsory redundancies.
Ms Woodman added: “We haven't been told anything apart from that they intend to impose this enormous level of cut to reduce expenditure by £140 million pounds.
“They have said that the £90m of that will come from cutting the salaries budget, which means cutting jobs.
“They've not given any sense of how long they plan to take for the process other than the cuts have to be made by the end of this academic year.”
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said the university must take “decisive action” against “far greater challenges” in the future.
The move comes against a bleak financial picture across higher education in Scotland.
“Engaging openly and listening to our community remains our priority,” Prof Mathieson said.
“We are regularly sharing updates on how we are identifying ways to reduce outgoings to sustainable levels, while continuing to deliver world-leading research and exceptional teaching.
“We have been transparent about the savings needed to secure our financial footing.
“These challenges are not unique to Edinburgh as institutions across the country are facing similar pressures.”
Meanwhile, more than 40 staff have left the University of Aberdeen amid efforts to make millions of pounds in savings.
It follows voluntary redundancies at the institution in April this year after it identified a black hole of £5.5m.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.