University of Glasgow UCU opens strike ballot over cuts

A strike ballot has been opened at the University of Glasgow over planned job cuts, with the University and College Union (UCU) urging the institution to rule out compulsory redundancies.

Staff at Glasgow have become the latest to consider strikes, potentially joining several other branches across the UK who have embarked on lengthy industrial action over planned restructures, including staff at the universities of Dundee and Edinburgh.

The ballot has been called in response to the opening of a voluntary redundancy scheme by Glasgow in August. UCU also said that the university management has confirmed its intention to undertake an organisational change project, which the union said will involve cuts to staff numbers. While it has not confirmed how many jobs it is looking to cut, the institution has not ruled out compulsory redundancies, according to UCU. 

The union said that promotions for academic staff have also been cancelled for the current academic year. The ballot will run from 6 October until 10 November. 

The news follows a report by the Scottish Funding Council which found nearly half of the country’s universities are forecasting deficits in the coming years, sparking further concerns over the Scottish sector after the government spent tens of millions of pounds bailing out the University of Dundee.

Duncan Lowther, UCU branch president at Glasgow, said “we want to engage with management and resolve this dispute, but to do so the principal and his management team need to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies and give colleagues a level of certainty about their futures”.  

“We’ll work with managers to find alternative savings, but we know that fundamentally the university is in a financially strong position with reserves among the highest in the country.

“Glasgow University means a lot to the city, and just a year into his post for the principal to be overseeing these unnecessary cuts risks potential strikes and the disruption that will ensue. He needs to reconsider urgently.”

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, noted that union branches “across Scotland are taking part in strike action at the moment as the jobs crisis hits hard”. 

“Up till now, Glasgow University has managed to avoid this. I’m appealing to the principal and university senior management to take a step back, and to rule out compulsory redundancies. If they won’t then their actions will leave staff with no option other than to take industrial action with the resulting disruption to the teaching, research and student support the university is renowned for.”

The University of Glasgow has been approached for comment.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com