Dundee University staff to strike for five days over job cuts

The university faces a £35m deficit and plans to cut about 300 jobs

Staff at Dundee University will strike for five days next week over the institution's plan to cut jobs as it continues to tackle a financial crisis.

The University and College Union (UCU) Scotland previously said that 72% of its members had backed strike action, on a turnout of 58%.

UCU members held three weeks of strike action in February in opposition to proposed job losses.

The university said it had been informed of the strike and "will do all we can" to mitigate any impact on students.

Members of the University and College Union Scotland staged a three-week strike in February

The university currently faces a £35m deficit.

The Scottish government has already stepped in and bailed out the university with £40m of emergency funding.

Ministers are said to have the expectation this would help keep job losses to a maximum of 300.

But the university's interim principal last week said that the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) - the body which funds universities in Scotland - had accepted that further reductions in the workforce would have to take place.

Prof Nigel Seaton issued the update as he appeared before Holyrood's Education Committee.

UCU's Dundee branch co-president Melissa D'Ascenzio said: "News that further job cuts are coming is just another shocking revelation in a year when staff have been told one thing only to be then told something different over the number of jobs to be cut and the need for compulsory redundancies.

"Last week was another example of staff hearing what's happening to their jobs and the university via the parliament or in the media."

Staff will also take part in actions short of strike including working to contract, not covering for colleagues or undertaking voluntary activities at the university.

The campus trade unions will hold a rally in Dundee on 13 November to mark the anniversary of the day staff were first told about the deficit and potential job cuts.

In June, a report by the Scottish Funding Council into the university's handling of its financial crisis led to the resignations of three senior members of the institution, including its interim principal.

It found that university bosses, and its governing body, repeatedly failed to identify the crisis and take action, describing problems facing it as "self-inflicted".

A Dundee University spokesperson said: "Dundee UCU have notified us of the industrial action their members are taking next week.

"We will do all we can to mitigate any impacts on our students, although we do anticipate the majority of classes and student contact time will proceed as normal."