Edinburgh University strike: 12 picket lines to be set up across campus

Staff at The University of Edinburgh are set to strike for three days from Monday to Wednesday this week.

12 picket lines will be set up across the university’s campuses, including in front of Old College, the Main Library and the main gate of King’s Buildings.

The pickets will be held each morning from 9am-12pm, with students and members of the public encouraged to “turn up and introduce” themselves, joining the union to “make this strike as visible and powerful as possible.”

A rally will also be held on Wednesday outside of the Scottish Parliament from 1pm to 2pm. The union has said: “A big turnout is essential to keep up the pressure so please do join this if you can, and spread the word” to “anyone who cares about higher education.”

The University and College Union (UCU) has also confirmed that “future action could also see a marking and assessment boycott which would see members refuse to take part in marking and assessment duties, including work such as exam invigilation and the processing of marks, and would be an escalation of this dispute.”

In a statement, Sophia Woodman, Edinburgh University UCU branch president, said: “I’m angry that, nine months on from announcing these cuts, staff are no clearer to knowing their future and senior managers’ plans.

“I’m angry that staff had to be re-balloted over taking industrial action in a dispute that should have ended months ago and that that we are once again having to take strike action because senior managers have refused to meaningfully engage to end this dispute.

Most Read

Oh no! Keye and Davide have devastatingly broken up since the MAFS UK 2025 reunion

Spilled! This is the famous footballer Leah has been dating after MAFS UK 2025 ended

Before and after: The jaw-dropping transformations of the Selling Sunset agents

“With hundreds of staff having already left, some pushed out, and thousands more worried for their future, university senior management need to finally do the right thing; commit to no compulsory redundancies; and accept the union’s open offer of meaningful talks with a view to ending the dispute.

“Unless and until they do, the threat of more strikes, more disruption and a marking and assessment boycott will hang over the university.  Students know exactly who’s to blame.

“It’s also time for MSPs and politicians across Edinburgh and the Lothians to take a keener interest in what’s happening at the university, and for them to impress on the principal that threatening staff with compulsory redundancies is wrong and unbecoming in an institution which is receiving more than £67million from the Scottish Government in teaching grants this academic year alone.”

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “Nine months after announcing huge cuts at Edinburgh, senior management still can’t tell their workforce whether or not they need to use compulsory redundancies.

“If Peter Mathieson, on £400,000 plus a year, can’t set out a way forward that doesn’t involve decimating the university and its staff, and if senior managers aren’t willing engage with the union to resolve this dispute, then we need government and politicians to intervene.”

Via UCU Edinburgh

The UCU recently re-balloted staff on continuing strike action. Of the 60 per cent turnout, 86 per cent of union members backed strike action.

Industrial action, involving strikes previously held during the university’s Freshers’ Week, and action short of a strike, like working to contract and refusing to cover for absent colleagues, has been ongoing since February, when university vice-chancellor Sir Peter Mathieson emailed staff to announce the institution was aiming to make budget cuts worth £140 million in order to meet financial targets set by the university.

Staff have voted in favour of continued action “as a result of University of Edinburgh management’s refusal to rule out mass redundancies”, which could see up to 1,800 staff cut in order to meet the university’s target of reducing its staffing bill by £92 million, as well as its refusal to “halt existing financially-driven restructuring”, like the closure and redistribution of responsiblities of the Institute for Academic Development.

Hundreds of staff have already accepted voluntary redundancies, with around 350 being reported in April, and more staff being offered voluntary redundancy in the last month.

The UCU, however, warns that staff on hourly and fixed-term contracts have already lost their jobs through “hidden redundancies”, cuts to the work done by hourly-paid staff, and the non-renewal of fixed term contracts.

In a statement on the strikes, Sir Peter Mathieson said: “Taking decisive action now is the responsible approach to prevent far greater challenges in the future.

“Engaging openly and listening to our community remains our priority. We are regularly sharing updates on how we are identifying ways to reduce outgoings to sustainable levels, while continuing to deliver world-leading research and exceptional teaching.

“We have been transparent about the savings needed to secure our financial footing. These challenges are not unique to Edinburgh as institutions across the country are facing similar pressures.”

More information about the strikes can be found on the UCU Edinburgh website: https://www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/.

Featured image via UCU.