Strikes threat at London campus over "redundancy rip-off" from University of Liverpool

Staff at the University of Liverpool's central London campus are threatening strike action in a row over redundancy pay-offs. Staff at the campus, which will close this year, are angry that the university is refusing to match its previous voluntary redundancy offer made to staff in Liverpool in 2018.

UCU says the university's decision to slash its redundancy offer from a year's salary by around 20 weeks will cost a typical lecturer around £15,000. The union says the penny-pinching offer was staggering considering that the university's vice-chancellor Dame Janet Beer took home £410,000 last year - a 13% rise including a £57,300 bonus.

The ballot of UCU members opens today (Monday) and closes on Friday 14 February. The union is also calling on the university to rule out compulsory redundancies and says its members would look to take serious and sustained action from April if necessary to defend their jobs and conditions.

UCU regional official Martyn Moss said: 'Staff should not have to suffer the double injustice of losing their jobs and being ripped off over their redundancy package. This penny-pinching deal is staggering when set against the inflation-busting package the university gave the vice-chancellor last year.

'Strike action is always a last resort but our members will take serious and sustained strike action to fight against compulsory redundancies and this rip-off redundancy deal.'