University staff to strike as jobs row escalates

Lancaster University said it was having to make "very difficult but necessary decisions"

Teaching and research staff at Lancaster University are to go on strike for two days in an escalation of a row over potential job losses.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are unhappy about the threat of compulsory redundancies, as the university seeks to cut 400 full-time posts to save £30m amid rising costs and a fall in international student admissions.

Staff, who are already working to rule, will walk out on 27 and 28 November over the "devastating cuts", UCU general secretary Jo Grady said.

The university said it was having to make "very difficult but necessary decisions" due to financial pressures and it did not "enter into this process lightly".

A university spokesperson said: "No compulsory redundancies have been announced and at this stage we are still making every effort to try to find these savings through voluntary means, a process which is currently underway in consultation with our trade unions."

Ms Grady said: "Strike action is a last resort for our members, but staff have been left no choice to protect Lancaster University from the devastating cuts management is attempting to inflict.

"If the university does not listen, it will face disruption on campus this month and the potential of more action in the new year."

Lancaster University employs the full-time equivalent of 1,300 academic staff and 1,700 professional services staff.

It has about 10,000 students from Great Britain and the EU, with another 3,000 from elsewhere overseas.