‘Nothing is off the table’: Union escalates fight against University of Nottingham cuts

Employees at the University of Nottingham told its bosses “nothing is off the table” as they threaten to increase their fight against the university.

The University and College Union (UCU) members boycotted marking in an attempt to force the university to change its drastic job and course-cutting plans.

The union warned that actions could disrupt graduation celebrations, target open days, and the beginning of the new academic year after bosses failed to meet its demands.

In May, the University of Nottingham revealed plans to cut around 700 jobs and finalise the cutting of 42 degree courses, including the entirety of its music and modern languages department.

On Thursday 18th June, officials met with the university to try to resolve the ongoing dispute and marking boycott, which would prevent students from graduating before their graduations in July.

Via Unsplash

Currently, the union’s offer to suspend the marking and assessment boycott and allow for some students to graduate normally if management confirmed future degree-level provisions for subjects at risk of complete closure and improvements to the voluntary redundancy scheme, has not been taken up by the university bosses.

In response, Lopa Leach, UCU’s Nottingham branch president, said “nothing is off the table” regarding potential industrial action.

She said: “Management has thrown students and their interests under the bus. Here was the possibility to end the dispute in time for graduation, but they are unwilling to entertain constructive solutions. Considering management’s disinterest, we are now left with no alternative but to consider escalating the dispute.”

The union said it also provided potential further savings and a detailed financial counterproposal to the university’s management last week, in an effort to prevent job losses and course cuts.

Previously, the university axed 350 administrative and technical staff jobs before the most recent round of cuts. Now more than 2,500 staff have been put at risk of redundancy.

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Jo Grady, UCU’s general secretary said she and other members were “beyond disappointed” at what they saw as a lack of willingness to end the dispute.

She said: “We went into this latest meeting with alternative ways for management to make savings without the need for such drastic cuts to jobs and courses. The financial issues facing the institution are the result of the senior leadership team’s mismanagement, and staff and students must not be made to pay the price for its failings.”

The University of Nottingham told the Nottingham Post it was reviewing counterproposals put forward by unions ahead of the finalisation of its Future Nottingham restructuring programme in the autumn. It claimed it would be reviewing the UCU’s set of alternative savings “carefully” and consulting with trade unions in future meetings.

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Featured image via Unsplash