Edinburgh University staff back strike action over £140m cuts and threat to jobs

Staff at the University of Edinburgh have backed strike action as a dispute over budget cuts and job losses continues.

It comes as the University’s top academic body declared “no confidence” in the executive’s handling of the financial crisis.

The no-confidence vote was passed “by a large majority” of members at a University Senate meeting on Tuesday.

“The no-confidence motion was proposed, and passed, on the basis that the Executive had not taken action to restore the confidence that has clearly been lost,” a letter to colleagues from the Senate stated.

The vote of no confidence comes as Edinburgh University staff overwhelmingly backed industrial action in the row over the institution’s £140m financial crisis.

The University College Union (UCU) said 84% of workers who voted backed strike action at the university.

93% said they would be willing to take part in industrial action short of strikes – which could include working to contract, and not covering for absent colleagues, or undertaking voluntary activities.

A marking and assessment boycott could also be on the table.

In February, university principal Professor Sir Peter Mathieson announced that Edinburgh University was looking to make cuts of £140m.

He added that cuts of that magnitude could not be reached solely by voluntary redundancies.

Since then the union has pushed for senior managers to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies but they have repeatedly refused to do so.

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

“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.”

Branch president, Sophia Woodman, said UCU wants to work with senior management to build a sustainable future, but said staff 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”.

She 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.”

The union said that it remained committed to working with the employer to find a solution but that the use of compulsory redundancies is a red line.

The local UCU branch is due to meet in the coming days to consider its next steps in the dispute.

The Edinburgh University Senate is also discussing next steps following the vote of no confidence on Wednesday.

Prof 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.

“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.

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