University staff to strike again over course cuts

UCU members at Bradford University will take 10 more days of industrial action from next week

Staff at the University of Bradford are to go on strike for a further 10 days at the start of the new academic year in a row over course closures and job cuts, a union has said.

The University and College Union (UCU) said its members would strike on weekdays from Monday 22 September until Friday 3 October.

The union said 82% of staff who voted in a ballot had backed strike action over the university's plans to shut down courses in chemistry and film and television.

A University of Bradford spokesperson said it was "reviewing all operations in a bid to make savings in response to sector-wide financial challenges".

"We remain committed to working with unions and where possible will seek to avoid or minimise compulsory redundancies," they said.

"We appreciate this is a difficult time for many at the university and we will continue to offer support to our staff."

'Listen to staff'

Members of the UCU previously went on strike over the proposals in June, July and August.

The UCU said the film and television course was being closed despite Bradford being Unesco's first ever City of Film and this year's UK City of Culture.

Meanwhile, a union spokesperson said the university's School of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences had launched successful apprenticeship programmes that were "crucial to training skilled workers for the regional economy".

The UCU has called on the university to rule out compulsory redundancies, and said nine professors and 47 full time equivalent lecturers from the School of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences and the School of Built Environment, Architecture and Creative Industries were currently at risk.

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: "Management needs to listen to the voices of its staff, rethink the cuts and rule out compulsory redundancies.

"It is now for the employer to decide if the university wants to avoid disruption to students at the beginning of the new academic year."

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