15 days of strike action begins today at University of Dundee

University and College Union (UCU) members at the University of Dundee today (Monday) begin 15* days of strike action over the university's £30million deficit and the threat to cut jobs including by the use of compulsory redundancies.

Staff at the university will strike each weekday for the next three weeks.  In an earlier ballot over whether to strike, 74% of those voting backed strike action on a turnout of 64%.

Staff will be on picket lines from 8am-11am outside the Tower Building on Perth Road in Dundee.  The UCU branch at the university will also be holding a rally at 12noon today at the Caird Hall.   The rally will hear from students, local politicians and UCU general secretary Jo Grady.  UCU members will also be lobbying the university's court meeting, the university's governing body, tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.

The dispute started after the university principal emailed all staff in November last year saying that, without any warning signs, university senior management had allowed the university to run up a £30million deficit.  The principal and other senior managers subsequently resigned from the university.  

The union said that it was committed to working with the employer to ensure a sustainable future for the university, its students and staff, but that this should not involve the use of compulsory redundancies.  The union said that every member of staff who is forced out of the door and loses their job means the university's educational mission is diminished and that students suffer.  Despite the willingness of the union to engage, and repeated calls from politicians for the university to engage with unions as decisions are made, university senior managers - over three months after first announcing the need for cuts - have still to clarify the size of cuts or the number of jobs they want to make redundant.

Dundee University UCU branch co-president, Ian Ellis, said: "No-one wants to take strike action but throughout this dispute UCU members at the university have shown they're determined to do whatever it takes to stop the university forcing staff out of their jobs because of mistakes management has made.  Every single member of staff is committed to ensuring the university's long-term future.  It's not too late to save jobs and it's not too late for senior managers to take action to stop the strikes.  We're calling on university management to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies and to work with staff and the union to deliver the best future for our university, our students and the city of Dundee."

UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, said: "Dundee's previous senior management team drastically failed to safeguard the university's finances, and we refuse to allow our members to pay the price for their mistakes. We will be on the picket line at Dundee fighting against these brutal cuts, and our members across the country are willing to ballot and strike wherever university managers refuse to try to protect jobs. We hope other vice-chancellors choose to work with us to avoid disruption."

ends

note

The full strike days are: Week 1: Monday 24, Tuesday 25, Wednesday 26, Thursday 27 and Friday 28 February; Week 2: Monday 3, Tuesday 4, Wednesday 5, Thursday 6 and Friday 7 March; and Week 3: Monday 10, Tuesday 11,  Wednesday 12, Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March.