Edinburgh University students face five weeks of strike action at start of next term
Students could return only to find their lectures and seminars cancelled over what union boss Jo Grady called “academic vandalism”
Students arriving back at the University of Edinburgh later this month could be met with weeks of strike action from staff as the years long dispute over budget cuts and redundancies continues into the new academic year.
Members of the University Colleges Union (UCU) Scotland at the university will strike for 25 days over five weeks from September 28 to demand that management rule out compulsory redundancies.
Vice-Chancellor Sir Peter Mathieson first announced £140m in cuts and an estimated 1,800 job losses in early 2025 which he said would prevent the institution falling into deficit in the face of financial challenges facing the sector.
“Staff are facing increased workloads, the threat of redundancies, and continuing uncertainty created by restructures and cuts,” Edinburgh branch co-secretary Nik Matheou said.
He said: “We have given management another opportunity to avoid the strikes. We need a commitment to no compulsory redundancies, meaningful consultation and action to address hidden job losses and increased workloads”.
Vice-Chancellor Sir Peter Mathieson said the university “must take responsible, sometimes difficult, decisions to secure its future”.
“We are extremely disappointed that, despite ongoing discussions, the University and College Union has given notification of five weeks’ strike action, which will unfairly and deliberately target students’ first semester of the academic year.” the Vice-Chancellor added.
The lead-up to strike action coincides with an internal briefing outlining cuts to its College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in “clear areas of duplication, low student uptake and courses that may be due or review or retirement”.
In the briefing seen by the Evening News, 87 programmes are scheduled to close to new admissions from 2027 to “maintain and strengthen our disciplinary offerings”.
Over half of the shuttered programmes are in the School of Literature, Languages and Cultures with applicants redirected onto other courses.
The union’s previous strike action, including a marking and assessment boycott at the end of last semester, has proved unsuccessful.
It told the Evening News last month that its pressure had succeeded in getting management to continuously hold off on compulsory redundancies which were delayed until this month.
“Our members have been clear that compulsory redundancies must not be the university’s answer to its financial challenges,” the branch’s co-president Lena Wånggren said.
She added: “Five weeks of strike action is not what anyone wants, but members are prepared to take action to protect jobs. UCU members are prepared to take action for our colleagues and our students – we want to safeguard students’ education not just for five weeks in Autumn but for the future.”
UCU’s general secretary Jo Grady called the job cuts, which are said to be the largest in Scottish higher education, “academic vandalism”.
However, the union boss said the strike can be avoided if management rules out compulsory redundancies, “meaningfully engage” and “take action” to end the 18-month long dispute.
Sir Mathieson said: “I want to assure our students that our priority is to minimise disruption to their teaching, and we will continue to support them as best as we can.”