Five days of industrial action are underway at Edinburgh University

Five days of staff strikes began at Edinburgh University on Monday the 30th of March after a ballot was passed on the 12th of March.

The strikes are being held from the 30th of March to the 3rd of April over management plans for £140 million in cuts and job losses.

A previous agreement was in place between the University and College Union (UCU) and Edinburgh University which said no strike action would take place until the 28th of April.

The union began to ballot members in February to overturn this agreement. The result came in March showing support for further staff strikes.

Despite the agreement being overturned, the university refutes any suggestion that is has not upheld the terms of the agreement it reached with the UCU Edinburgh in December 2025.

Alongside the all out strikes, staff will be partaking in action short of a strike. This can include refusing to cover absent colleagues and working to contract.

The strikes, which began on Monday morning, will take place across seven picket lines throughout the week.

Locations of the picket lines include the Old Medical School, Edinburgh Futures Intitute (EFI), Old College and King’s Buildings.

The industrial action began with an all-out strike across all picket lines and a mass political lobby at Holyrood.

This has been followed by a strategic strike on Tuesday at King’s Campus.

There will be another all-out strike on Wednesday at Bristo Square in conjunction with Heriot-Watt, who are undertaking strike action following a dispute over job cuts.

Speakers will include Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) General Secretary Roz Foyer, those from Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt UCU branches, other campus unions, and students.

There will then be further strategic strikes on Thursday and Friday taking place in 50 George Square and the Old Medical School.

The strikes taking place this week come after management at the university have continually failed to put a number on how many staff they want to cut.

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The UCU has estimated that around 1,800 jobs will be lost and that hundreds of jobs have already gone in “hidden redundancies”. They include staff with fixed term contracts not being renewed as would normally happen and hourly paid staff having their hours reduced.

The UCU Edinburgh branch president, Sophia Woodman said: “This is a really busy time at Edinburgh University and the last thing staff want to be doing is striking.

“Sadly, the decision by management to keep the UCU from attending critical meetings and not to share key financial information means that we’ve had to take this action.

“For management to have pulled back from the commitments they gave in December is deeply disappointing. We want to try and find alternative savings and protect jobs. However, we need the books to be opened and meaningful engagement from the principal and senior management.”

Sophia continued: “The last annual report shows that the university’s finances are healthy. A year after announcing the biggest ever cuts to be made at a university in Scotland, they’ve failed to make the case for the level of cuts and job losses they’re proposing.

“It’s time now for management to end the undue stress and worry they’ve put staff and students through, and to engage in a genuinely meaningful way to find a way forward to end this dispute.”

UCU general secretary, Jo Grady also commented on this weeks strike action. She said: “Staff will be out on picket lines today and throughout the week to oppose these cuts at Edinburgh.

“Well over a year from first announcing plans to make such huge savings and cut jobs, including by using compulsory redundancies, I’m calling Sir Peter Mathieson to recommit to working with us to find a solution to this dispute that saves jobs and rules out compulsory redundancies.”

Strikes held outside the Main Library in November

Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice Chancellor of Edinburgh University told The Tab: “The decision form UCU Edinburgh to take strike action brings a premature end to the agreement we reached in December 2025.

“By targeting strikes during teaching, exams and graduations, our students will now be placed under more strain during an already challenging and important time.

“While we respect the right to protest, we will do everything we can to protect our students and staff from any disruption.

He continued: “It is disappointing that the good faith and opennes we have maintained in our engagements with UCUE have not been reciprocated and that this action is being directed against our students.

“We will continue all legally required consultation with union representatives and will continue all legally required consultation with union representatives and will continue to uphold our commitments under the agreement, as we believe this is in the best interests of our staff.”