Edinburgh university staff hit out at 'toxic environment' as five-week strike action over job cuts begins
University staff formed picket lines across Edinburgh on the first day of strike action
Staff at the University of Edinburgh say they have been living in a “toxic environment” of jobs cuts and poor communication as five weeks of strike action got under way.
Members of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) formed picket lines across the city on Monday as part of an 18-month-long dispute over redundancies and £140 million in job cuts.
The members are calling on management to negotiate with and listen to staff in order to stop sweeping budget cuts and compulsory redundancies.
Dr Lena Wånggren, UCU co-president, said: “We are on strike over staff cuts, we are not striking because we want to, we would much prefer to be working right now, but management refuse to move on any of our demands.
“We are 18 months into this dispute; this is not the first time we have tried to get them to stop.
“The university is not in a deficit, the principal has said so in front of the Scottish Parliament, so we are saying that there are ways to finance that do not involve cutting staff”.
The University of Edinburgh announced two weeks ago that 90 programmes are set to face closure – including Celtic languages and Scottish Literature single honours among others in the university’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS).
Senior lecturer Charlotte Bosseaux said: “We have been living in an environment that is very toxic because we have been told the last couple of years that there’s going to be job cuts and the communication from management is very poor, there is no transparency in what they are doing’.
On the sweeping job cuts Dr Rae Rosenberg, a lecturer in Human Geography, said he was “deeply worried that the cuts are being made without the input and guidance of staff”.
“When you make these sweeping decisions without the input from staff and you see things like what just happened where you have the loss of Scottish Literature programs at one of Scotland’s top universities, there should have been consultations there – it has to be represented at a Scottish higher education institution,” he said.
Dr Rosenberg also explained that this has caused anxieties among students who are not only worried for the impacts of the strikes themselves but also the impact of programme closure on the next few years of their studies. He said this is particularly felt by students in their second and third years.
“There are students who are enrolled in programs that won’t exist in the future and that not only is a tremendous source of stress for the staff on those programmes but also for the students themselves,” he added.
The University of Edinburgh is one of three Scottish universities where staff will go on strike this month, with members at Dundee and Heriot Watt also walking out.
UCU Scotland estimates that 1,800 jobs will be cut across the University of Edinburgh – the wealthiest higher education institution in Scotland and third in the UK as a whole, behind Oxford and Cambridge.
Dr Wånggren said that while staff were ready to strike for five weeks, she hoped that communication with management could bring an end to the action early.
She said: “We can stop this strike today I think the ball is actually in their court.”
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said: “We are extremely disappointed that, despite ongoing discussions, the University and College Union has announced five weeks’ strike action, which will unfairly and deliberately target our students’ first semester of the academic year.
“While we recognise the right of staff to take this action, I want to assure our students that we will continue to do everything we can to mitigate the impacts of that action on them. In addition, we remain firmly committed to constructive and transparent engagement with our joint unions.
“To enable the University to thrive, and protect its position as a world-leading institution, we must take responsible and sometimes difficult decisions. Using reserves to cover day-to-day outgoings is not a reliable or responsible way to solve the underlying problem long-term. We need to create a sustainable model that enables the University to continue educating students, advancing research and innovation, and – ultimately – making the world a better place.
“As society changes, like other institutions, we undertake regular evidence-based reviews of our academic portfolio to make sure it continues to align with student demand, a constantly evolving job market and other external demands. Decisions regarding our future academic offering have been guided by in-depth consideration of data and disciplinary insights from academics and experts in their field. Proposals have then followed our robust governance processes.
“We will continue to share information and support our community as we navigate the necessary steps to shape our future.”