Strike ballot over plans to cut university jobs

The University of Hull has said it needs to make £23m in savings

A union is holding a strike ballot over plans by a university to make up to 127 staff redundant.

The University of Hull said it needed to make savings of £23m following a drop in income.

Julie Kelley from the University and College Union (UCU) described the proposed job losses as "really wide-scale, they're very deep".

The university said it had to make "some difficult decisions" to "maintain our financial sustainability" and "develop in an ever-changing environment".

Ms Kelley said that industrial action was a last resort.

"We believe that the university has choices to make in terms of its financial situation," she said.

"We accept that the HE sector in general is facing issues to do with the devaluation of the home student fees."

While there were issues around international recruitment, the union believed that the university "can weather some of these storms", she added.

"We believe it has the money available to be able to protect jobs as much as possible and not have to cut to the level that it is proposing to cut at this point in time."

The university is consulting over plans to close its chemistry department

Announcing the potential job cuts in June, Prof Dave Petley, the university's vice-chancellor, said savings needed to be made over two years across the university because of a "drop in income whilst other costs continue to rise".

“These challenges include a significant reduction in international student applications, and changes in UK student recruitment application patterns," he said.

A university spokesperson said: “We need to make some difficult decisions, including reorganising parts of the university, to both maintain our financial sustainability, and to grow and develop in an ever-changing environment.

"No decisions have yet been made. We are currently in a 45-day collective consultation with our three recognised trade unions."

The UCU said the cuts would mean "a loss of around one in 10 of the already reduced academic workforce".

The university is consulting over whether to close its chemistry department.

The strike ballot opened on Monday and will run until 27 September.

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