University of Essex strikes escalate over campus closure & job cuts
UCU members at the University of Essex were on picket lines this week in a fight to save Southend Campus and hundreds of jobs, reported BBC Breakfast, BBC News at One, ITV News and local TV and radio stations.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady told the Gazette, the Echo and the Standard: “University staff are back out on strike in an attempt to rescue the University of Essex from the ruinous path management is taking. We won’t allow senior managers at the university to decimate the staff body, harm student learning, and shut down the only higher education provision in the city of Southend.”
Spring Statement ‘betrayed the millions of graduates drowning in debt’
UCU accused Labour of “betraying” graduates after Chancellor Rachel Reeves declined to make any changes to student loan repayments in her Spring Statement, reported GB News.
Jo Grady told the channel, Times Higher and the Morning Star: Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer have betrayed the millions of graduates drowning in debt by refusing to lift a finger to help them. “Decades of enforced pay deductions cause real harm, undermine the social contract between a government and its citizens, and inflict lasting damage on the country’s growth,” she continued. “Labour needs to fix this mess by ending the debt burden and addressing the root cause of the crisis: an outdated and under-resourced higher education funding model.”
UCU condemns strikes on Iran
UCU general secretary Jo Grady signed a joint statement opposing the “illegal war” against Iran, reported the Morning Star:
“Reports of Iranian civilian casualties, including students and schoolchildren, are deeply disturbing and require urgent, independent investigation. We oppose any attacks on civilians and stand against all unlawful wars. We fear that an attack on Iran will have devastating global consequences, from regional instability to surging oil prices that will hurt working people everywhere. We oppose any direct or indirect participation by the UK in this conflict and call for an immediate return to diplomacy.”
More than 2,000 oppose Heriot-Watt University cuts
More than 2,000 people have signed a petition opposing cuts to a Scottish university’s language programme, reported The Herald.
Jo Grady told the outlet and the Morning Star: “The attack on languages in our universities is wrong. To cut back on the teaching of German and Chinese makes no sense educationally, culturally or economically. Members at Heriot-Watt are deciding the next steps in this dispute but I’m clear that saving jobs will be a major part of the union’s action.”
Glasgow Caledonian University to axe 100 jobs
Glasgow Caledonian University is planning to axe 100 jobs in a bid to close a £10m black hole, reported Yahoo News.
Jo Grady told the outlet and the Daily Record: “Today’s news will be deeply worrying for staff at the university and for students too. Equally worrying is that the principal is already suggesting that there might be compulsory redundancies. The union will support the branch at GCU in whatever steps they take, but we’re clear that the use of compulsory redundancies is unacceptable.”
UCU slams government for ‘immoral’ ban on study visas from four countries
Responding to the government’s decision to halt study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, Jo Grady told Left Foot Forward: “This attack on international students isn’t really about reducing asylum claims, it’s about aping Reform to try and win back votes. The Green’s destruction of Labour in the Gorton and Denton by-election should have been a wakeup call – these tactics aren’t just immoral; they’re political suicide. Labour needs to stop trying to outflank Reform on division and bigotry. It should instead make the case for a welcoming and economically strong Britain, of which international students and a world-leading higher education sector are an integral part.”
University of South Wales to cut hundreds of jobs
The University of South Wales (USW) says it is cutting a further 200 jobs in response to problems facing the higher education sector, reported BBC News.
USW UCU chair Estelle Hart told the outlet the announcement had “caused considerable shock and worry for staff at USW who have been given a matter of weeks to make life-changing decisions or find themselves at risk of redundancy”.
UCU Cymru support official Peter Hill told Wales Online: “University of South Wales staff will be shocked by the scale of this announcement. UCU Cymru will work closely with the branch to defend jobs, quality, and the student interest.”
Northumbria University staff announce 10 more days of strike action in pensions row
UCU members at Northumbria University have confirmed that they will take another 10 days of strike action, as a dispute over a “pension grab” continues, reported The Chronicle.
UCU Northumbria chair Adam Hansen told the paper the strike was a “last resort” and that union members “are saying they want to carry on the action, reluctantly but necessarily”.