The Edinburgh UCU (University and Colleges Union) has announced six days of strike action in week 11 of teaching this semester.
This comes after 86 per cent of those who voted in the UCU re-ballot voted in favour of strike action. This vote is the second on strike action held by the UCU due to the strike action lasting more than six months.
The Edinburgh UCU President, Sophia Woodman told the Edinburgh Dot: “These days are in the last week of teaching in the semester, and members hwo have teaching responsibility clearly would prefer to be in the class room with their students to wrap up their courses.”
She continued: “University management could resolve this dispute now, but so far, has not chosen to do so.”
The latest strike action follows an eight month long dispute between the UCU and Edinburgh University, following an email sent to staff in February which refused to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of the proposed £140 million bugdet cuts.
In an Edinburgh Tab exclusive earlier this week it was revealed the university closed its Institute for Academic Develpoment in the first stage of the budget restructuring. This resulted in the compulsory redundancy of seven members of staff.
The newly announced strikes are to take place in two weeks following six days of strike action earlier this year which occured in June and September.
Sophia Woodman also told The Edinburgh Dot:
“The University of Edinburgh has enormous reserves – the largest in the UK after Oxford and Cambridge – which could be used to cushion a transition towards a lower rate of expenditure.
“Management has not chosen to do this; indeed, they have not been willing to negotiate on a single penny of the targets for cuts to staff, £90m of the overall £140m budget cut amount.
“We also need some kind of accounting for how the university got into the situation where expenditure is projected to outstrip income, according to management’s claims.
“The unions have pointed to reckless levels of capital spending and poor planning in short mismanagement. So far, the unions haven’t been told about what savings are being made beyond cuts to staff. This is unacceptable.
“The UCU Edinburgh is open to resolving the dispute, but we need movement from the management side. We encourage students to ask the senior leadership what they are doing to avert strikes in their last week of teaching this semester.
Sir Peter Mathieson gave a statement to The Tab Edinburgh which said: ” Taking decisive action now is the responsible approach to prevent far greater challanges in the future.
“Engaging openly and listening to our community remains our priority. We are regularly sharing updates on how we are identifying ways to reduce outgoings to sustainable levels, while continuing to deliver world-leading research and exceptional teaching.
“We have been transparent about the savings needed to secure financial footing. These challenges are not unique to Edinburgh as institutions across the country are facing similar pressures.”
