Strike on Thursday at London Metropolitan University in row over job cuts

Members of UCU and UNISON will walk out as part of a dispute over plans for 165 jobs to be axed across the university. It will be the second time that UCU members have walked out in protest at the cuts, following a one-day strike on Thursday 21 May.

Two-thirds (67%) of UCU members who took part in the ballot at the north London university voted 'yes' to strike action over the job losses. Three-quarters (78%) of UNISON members who voted backed strike action.

Staff will be on picket lines from 8:30am at all the main entrances to the university, including Holloway Road, Moorgate and Aldgate. There will be a rally with a samba band outside the Women's Library on Old Castle Street at the Aldgate site from 12pm.

A petition against the proposed job cuts, which affect academic and professional support staff, has already received over 900 signatures.

UCU regional official, Barry Jones, said: 'It is disappointing that the university is still refusing to budge over these proposed cuts. Instead of cutting back on jobs the university should be building on its reputation for expanding access to education.

'Strike action is always a last resort, but in order to avoid further disruption, the university needs to urgently reassess its plans and sit down again with the unions to negotiate a better way forward.'

Campaigners have highlighted that the university has an exceptionally strong record in providing educational opportunities for some of the most disadvantaged groups in society. Half (52%) of the university's full time undergraduate entrants in 2012/13 were mature students, compared to a quarter (23%) nationally. A similar amount (51%) were from the bottom four socio-economic groups, compared to just a third (33%) nationally.