Staff at the University of Edinburgh went on strike for the duration of Welcome Week, with five days of industrial action taking place between Monday 8 September through Friday 12 September, following an earlier walk out in June on an Open Day.
The University and College Union (UCU) have condemned the University of Edinburgh for the planned £140m financial cuts over 18 months, with a proposed £90m worth of these cuts being to staff, approximately 1400 to 2000 jobs.
UCU say that this not only harms those who are made redundant, but also remaining staff, who will be forced to take on more tasks, and student experience, which will be greatly disrupted.
Welcome Week was a deliberate time of striking for UCU, who say it was “highly visible and disruptive”, emphasising a need for new and returning students to understand the impact of these cuts. For students, this could mean less support, larger classes and reduced course options.
One third-year student said: “I am frustrated that the university I am paying for is trying to reduce the already inadequate support we receive. The strikes have meant that Learn pages have not been opened in Welcome Week, so I am already behind on readings.”
Senior Management at the University of Edinburgh claims that the cuts are necessary to prevent a projected deficit in the 25-26 academic year, but UCU highlight that this deficit has still not been seen.
Principle Sir Peter Mathieson has come under scrutiny for these claims in the Scottish Parliament by the Education Committee in June, whereby he claimed not to know his exact salary, but admits to accepting a pay rise of 5 per cent last year, and a further 2.5 per cent in January.
UCU are proposing a reduction in capital spending, which is projected to be higher this year than any year in the last decade, as an alternative to staff cuts. They are also calling on the Scottish government to ask universities to use financial reserves as an alternative to cuts, as the Welsh government have done.
The Student spoke to Sophia Woodman, the President of UCU Edinburgh, about plans for future striking, and she said: “UCU has informed management this week that we’ll be reballoting our members for a new mandate for industrial action from mid-November for six months.” This will accompany continued plans for action short of strike, meaning staff only work to their contract.
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