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Strike action at Queen Margaret University over job losses is on

6 February 2019

A series of strikes over job losses at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University (QMU) starting on 7 February are on after talks between the university and UCU ended without a satisfactory resolution.

If the dispute cannot be resolved then staff are due to walk out again on Monday 11 and Wednesday 13 February. UCU members are angry at the loss of around 35 jobs, which represents a loss of 7% of the university's total workforce.

The union says these job losses were unnecessary and will simply increase the workloads of remaining staff who will need to do more with less resources. Staff remain angry at the way decisions to lose posts were made. In the recent strike ballot, two-thirds of UCU members (64%) who voted back strike action on a turnout of 72%.

QMU UCU spokesperson, Oonagh O'Brien said: 'Nobody wants to take strike action, but the way the decisions to make cuts were made has angered staff and risks damaging the university's reputation and the student experience.

'The level of support for strike action shows the strength of feeling about the cuts. The university needs to recognise how unhappy staff are and work with UCU to sort out a mess they've created.'

Last updated: 7 February 2019

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