University anti-cuts campaign launched

University staff at three universities were on strike in March over planned cuts and redundancies.

Newcastle University staff went on strike for 14 days in March over £35 million of planned cuts. The UCU university and college union pointed to the risk of job losses across the institution, a failure to rule out compulsory redundancies and implications for workload. They also began indefinite and continuous action short of a strike.

Staff at the University of Dundee continued their strike action over job cuts including compulsory redundancies. At London’s Brunel university, staff went on one day of strike action over 135 planned redundancies.

The local strikes come as the UCU has warned that one in two universities is proposing cuts to staff or courses and up to 10,000 staff are seeing their jobs threatened.

The union has launched a Stop the Cuts campaign demanding an end to the fee-based funding model, measures to stop the “boom and bust” competition between universities, a review of governance and an end to the hostile environment on campus.

The union will hold a national demonstration in London on Saturday 10 May. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the campaign “is our opportunity to make our elected leaders understand there will be no place to hide if they do not step in and help save our sector”.