Lecturer strikes set to 'significantly disrupt' teaching at four universities

The industrial action will affect Aberdeen, Dundee, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde universities.

Staff with the UCU union at all four institutions will walk out on Tuesday and Wednesday, while some will take further action later in the month.

Union officials say that at each university managers are refusing to rule out compulsory redundancies.

The strike action is expected to cause “significant disruption” to university teaching, the university claimed.

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A number of universities across Scotland have faced the prospect of industrial action as leaders seek to cut costs.

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “The jobs crisis in Scotland’s universities is a result of a decade of underfunding.

“Poor management decisions, changing immigration rules and fluctuations in international student recruitment have all played their part, but the key contributor to the current crisis is ongoing government underfunding.

“Jobs are now under threat as fixed-term contracts end without renewal and universities threaten hundreds of redundancies.”

She continued: “There has never been a time when so many jobs are on the line.

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“In turn this is leading to staff being forced to strike and join picket lines to defend their jobs and to oppose cuts.

“The Scottish Government and Universities Scotland review into the sector’s sustainability is a welcome acknowledgement that things can’t go on as they are, but a review is no comfort to the people losing their jobs right now, or to the students seeing their courses cut.”

A spokesman for Dundee University said: “We are committed to doing all we can to ensure there is as little disruption to students as possible from DUCU’s strike action.

“We anticipate the majority of classes and student contact time will proceed as normal.”

The Scottish Government has previously said that compulsory redundancies should only be considered as a “last resort”, saying policies from the UK Government have added to pressures on higher education.

Dan Cutts, UCU Aberdeen branch co-chair, said: ”UCU members at Aberdeen took two days strike action last week and are back out on strike again this week.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support for the strike, and the support we’ve had from students.

“They know that staff cuts mean less choice of courses, and less support from the staff teaching them. We don’t want to be on strike but management’s plans for cuts and job losses have left us no choice. We’re prepared to join serious talks with management to bring this dispute to an end, but we’re clear that the principal needs to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies.”

The other three universities and the Scottish Government have been approached for comment.