Union calls off Aberdeen University strike

UCU members had been due to strike on six days in March

A strike by staff at the University of Aberdeen has been called off after the threat of compulsory redundancy was lifted from 26 employees.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) had planned to take six days of strike action throughout March.

The dispute centred on the university deciding to cut single degrees in modern languages.

The move had put the jobs of 26 staff at risk but the university said that was no longer the case.

In a statement, the university said it had been able to remove the possibility of compulsory redundancies after "receiving a strong set of proposals from staff in modern languages to grow income and reform the curriculum".

Prof Karl Leydecker, its senior vice-principal, said: "Together with clear signs of progress towards cost savings, we see a sound basis for future academic and financial sustainability, which we will continue to monitor for effectiveness.

"We know that the ongoing uncertainty has been extremely difficult for staff affected, as well as for our wider community.

"The conclusion of the modern languages consultation and the removal of the risk of redundancy and the end of this dispute with UCU, provides an opportunity to move forward positively as a modern languages community of staff and students."

The dispute centred on changes to modern languages degrees at the university

Last week the university lifted the risk of redundancy facing Gaelic staff.

It has been running a voluntary severance scheme, and UCU that - while it was sad to see people leaving the university - the fact that no-one was being forced out was a win for members who had shown a willingness to take strike action to stop compulsory redundancies.

Dr Rachel Shanks, the chairwoman of the union's Aberdeen University branch, said: "I want to thank every single member of our UCU branch who voted for strike action and who stood firm against the university's threat to force colleagues out of the university.

"It's good that, in the end, university senior managers listened to staff, students and the wider community, and have withdrawn the threat of compulsory redundancies.

"Hopefully university staff can now focus on teaching and supporting students, carrying out research and knowledge exchange and all the other activities that our members do."

The first of the six strike days had been due to be held on Tuesday 12 March.