Strike ballots open at four Scottish universities in face of widespread fears over pay and jobs

University and College Union (UCU) Scotland union is to ballot staff at Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt, Stirling and Strathclyde universities.

Management now face the prospect of workers walking out at the start of spring term, the busiest time of year when examination and marking of students’ work takes place.

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If members vote for strike action, they will join UCU members at the University of Dundee where members have been taking strike action last year in a long running dispute over cuts and job losses.

The disputes share a common cause of principals seeking to make cuts and refusing to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies.

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “With a record number of jobs being cut across Scottish universities, the principals at Stirling and Heriot-Watt and those at Strathclyde and Aberdeen, who are starting off their time as principals in the most disappointing way, need to listen to their staff and commit to ruling out compulsory redundancies before these disputes escalate into strikes with resulting disruption to students.”

Aberdeen University is facing cuts amid ongoing financial concerns at the institution.

The employer is not involving UCU in what it has termed its “Adapting for Continuing Success” changes, the union said.

The dispute also covers an ongoing freeze on academic promotions and follows planned strikes in Spring 2024, later called off, when 25 staff in modern languages faced compulsorily redundancies.

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The union said that to be back in a similar position so soon showed a lack of goodwill in senior managers’ negotiating.

David Clough, Aberdeen UCU branch co-chair, said: “University managers are again seeking to solve financial problems by treating staff as disposable assets.

“The outline plans they have shared would have negative effects on the experience of students and threaten the university’s strength in research.”

Heriot-Watt’s disagreement results from the university’s “right-sizing” exercise where senior managers are looking to cut courses and programmes.

This would result in the loss of at least 41 jobs in Scotland and 10 in Malaysia with possible compulsory redundancies despite repeated requests from the union.

The university is also putting in doubt the university’s 25-year commitment to the Scholar programme – an online learning platform used in schools throughout Scotland in key subjects including maths, sciences, English and modern languages.

Kate Sang, Heriot-Watt UCU president, added: “We are disappointed that the university have not committed to the protection of jobs in Scholar, jobs which are vital to the delivery of high-quality accessible education across Scotland.

“The proposed changes to individual staff's research time threaten the university's reputation as a global research leader and may cause longer term harm to the university's research income and research excellence. We remain committed to working constructively with the employer.”

Senior management at Stirling University opened a voluntary severance scheme in summer 2025, a matter of months after the principal’s salary rose to £414,000 a year, making him the highest paid university principal in the country.

Despite 175 staff having left on a voluntary basis in recent months, university senior managers are looking to make more cuts and have refused to rule out compulsory redundancies.

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A Stirling UCU spokesperson said: “We have not seen any justification for further jobs losses at Stirling.

“The university is currently restructuring faculties and professional services.

“There is also a Scottish Government led strategic review on funding model for Scotland’s universities about to get under way. Any compulsory redundancies in this context is premature.”

Meanwhile, the dispute at Strathclyde is a result of the university claiming the need to make £35million savings and looking to cut 76 jobs, including from the National Manufacturing Institute, the Business School, Research and Knowledge Exchange, and Estates.

Jen Remnant, Strathclyde UCU branch chair, said: “We are in dispute because staff, who have kept University of Strathclyde going throughout pandemic and successive real cuts in pay, deserve transparency, respect, and a real say over decisions that threaten their jobs and the future of Strathclyde.

“Instead, cuts have been imposed as a fait accompli, with staff only consulted after being told their roles are at risk.

“We remain open to talks, including through ACAS, but if this intransigence from management continues, we will consider all options available to us, including industrial action, to defend our jobs.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government recognises the vital role universities play in our economy and wider society, which is why we are investing £1.1 billion in the sector this year alone.

“Ministers are aware of the broad range of pressures facing Scotland’s universities. This includes the UK Government’s immigration policies, which are having an adverse impact on international student numbers.

“Additionally, universities are facing extra costs of £48 million due to the UK Government’s decision to increase employers’ national insurance contributions.

“While universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own staffing and operational matters, we expect them to engage constructively with trade unions to seek resolution to local disputes, in line with Fair Work principles.

“Compulsory redundancies should only be considered as a last resort, after all other cost-saving measures have been fully explored.”