Edinburgh University (UCU) Strike Calendar

Staff members at the University of Edinburgh, part of UCU Scotland, plan to strike next week due to a dispute concerning funding reductions equivalent to £140 million and potential job losses.

The industrial action is scheduled for two full days, Monday, March 30th, and Wednesday, April 1st, with further, partial strike action anticipated throughout the remainder of the week depending on individual work schedules.

This action follows a previous nine-day strike period, which concluded with an agreement last December guaranteeing no compulsory job losses until July 2026 and promising substantive consultation.

However, union members believe this agreement was violated because management failed to consult meaningfully, including restricting union access to crucial meetings and withholding required financial data.

The current authorization for industrial action expires at the end of April, prompting a new ballot among union members regarding estimated job losses, workload issues, undeclared redundancies, and proper consultation procedures.

A rally is planned for noon on Wednesday, April 1st, at Bristo Square.

Members of the University and College Union at the University of Edinburgh are initiating a new ballot concerning proposed cuts of £140 million, potential job losses, workload issues, and consultation practices.

This follows a previous dispute a year prior that involved nine days of strike action due to concerns over compulsory redundancies.

A temporary agreement was reached in December, guaranteeing no compulsory redundancies until the end of July 2026, in exchange for the union pausing industrial action until April 2026.

The new ballot seeks a mandate for further industrial action should management proceed with planned cuts and potentially reinstate compulsory redundancies after July.

Changes to employment law mean that a 'yes' vote in this ballot would grant a 12-month mandate for action, rather than the previous six months.

The union estimates the proposed cuts, potentially affecting up to 1,800 jobs, would be the largest in a Scottish university's history.

The university, noted as one of Scotland's wealthiest with over £3 billion in reserves, confirmed it was not in deficit last month.

The union advocates for management to resolve the situation permanently by ruling out compulsory redundancies, asserting the proposed cuts are unnecessary and damaging.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) Scotland at the University of Edinburgh commenced three days of strike action over proposed £140 million cuts and job losses, which may include compulsory redundancies.

Further action, such as a marking and assessment boycott, is possible if the dispute continues.

Picketing activity is scheduled daily, with a rally planned outside the Scottish Parliament to urge politicians to call on the university to abandon compulsory redundancies.

The decision to strike followed a re-ballot where 86% of voting members backed industrial action, signaling strong opposition to management's plans to reduce staff numbers.

The union estimates that approximately 1,800 jobs could be lost, noting that hundreds of job losses have already occurred through non-renewal of fixed-term contracts and reduced hours for hourly paid staff.

The union is demanding that senior management commit to ruling out compulsory redundancies, nine months after the initial announcement of cuts.

The ongoing uncertainty affects staff whose long-term futures at the university remain unknown.

The union is calling for meaningful talks to end the dispute, warning of continued disruption, including the potential marking and assessment boycott, until demands are met.

Staff at the University of Edinburgh have today (Tuesday) backed industrial action for a second time in a longstanding dispute over £140million cuts, job losses and compulsory redundancies. In the re-ballot of members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the university, 86% of those voting backed strike action on a turnout of 60%. 94% of members who took part in the vote also backed action short of strike which could include actions like working to contract; refusing to cover for absent colleagues or undertaking voluntary duties; and a marking and assessment boycott.

The union estimates that the scale of cuts the university has announced amounts to up to 1,800 full-time-equivalent jobs, although numbers could be significantly higher as many staff work part-time or are hourly-paid. Hundreds of jobs have already been lost, and many staff on precarious, fixed-term contracts are being forced out with their contracts not being renewed as would have happened in the past while hourly-paid staff have had their hours significantly reduced, severely impacting their livelihoods. As well as having a disastrous impact on those staff leaving, the remaining staff are being left with ever increasing workloads. The union has called on university senior managers to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies and argued that if cuts of the scale proposed go ahead it will be the biggest ever number of jobs lost in the history of Scottish universities and would amount to "academic vandalism".

The dispute is over university senior management's plans to cut £140million from the university's budget and the refusal to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies to cut staff numbers.

Staff will also take part in action short of strike, including working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, not undertaking voluntary activities and a boycott of administrative work related to implementing the cuts. The union said it was also considering a marking and assessment boycott of students' work as well as members refusing to use personal devices for work purposes, but that, for now, this is being held back in the hope that the university senior management will agree to rule out compulsory redundancies and end the dispute.