Lancaster University staff to vote on potential strike as 400 full time jobs face cuts

A formal vote will take place this October, which could affect Freshers’ Week.

Lancaster University staff will give their opinion on strike action, after the institution plans to cut 400 full time jobs in a bid to save money.

If the vote is successful, staff will likely walk out during Michaelmas term, BBC reports. 

Teaching and research staff are worried about the threat of compulsory redundancy after a spokesperson from the university confirmed cost saving measures would need to be made: “The university is seeking to find cost savings of £30m from our payroll budget, across both academic and professional services,”

The university is having to make “very difficult, but necessary decisions in the light of financial pressures impacting the whole UK university sector”, according to the spokesperson.

The spokesperson claimed that rising costs and a fall in numbers of international students are making the cuts necessary. Around 20 per cent of Lancaster students are international, with the remainder from the UK and EU countries.

“The university is seeking to find total cost-savings of £30m from our payroll budget, across both academic and professional services.

“We recognise that this is a deeply unsettling time for our staff, students, and the communities we serve, and we do not enter into this process lightly.

“However, achieving financial sustainability is essential to securing the university’s future.”

Branch president of the University and Colleges Union, Dr Sunil Banga said there was still “an opportunity for the university to sit down and negotiate” before any strike action is taken. The union is “very happy” to discuss “which courses make money, or not, in the university’s terms”.

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But Sunil said that this is “a very wrong way of looking at the university’s purpose”, adding: “Compulsory redundancy is something that is completely unacceptable to our members.”

The university employs the equivalent of 1,300 full time academic and 1,700 professional services staff.

If they go forward with these proposed compulsory redundancies, Lancaster UCU reports that around one in four members of staff could lose their jobs.

The last time Lancaster University lecturers went on strike was during the 2022/23 academic year.

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