On 20 February 2026, members of the Educational Institute of Scotland University Lecturers’ Association (EIS ULA) walked out to protest Edinburgh Napier University’s proposed compulsory redundancies.
Strikes began on 10 February and will continue intermittently until 5 March, with 92 per cent of voting members at ENU voting in favour of strike action.
EIS expects ENU to commit to no compulsory redundancies, even though ENU has, since the strikes, confirmed that it will reduce the planned compulsory redundancies from 70 to 10.
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley commented that: “the EIS will always fight the threat of compulsory redundancies, and our members are determined to take a stand against a damaging programme of cuts which would be bad for students and staff alike.”
A spokesperson for ENU said this decision was made to: “ensure we are financially sustainable [and] secure the jobs of the vast majority of the 1,800 colleagues employed at the University.”
ENU remains “committed to continuing to work constructively” with trade unions.
However, they are “disappointed by the disruption this will cause our students and other colleagues. [They] will do all [they] can to mitigate its impact.”
Lucas, a second-year journalism student at ENU, despite having two weeks of classes cancelled, said: “I have enough materials online and fully support the strikes [and it is] nice having an extra few weeks off.”
The University of Edinburgh is deciding on whether to follow ENU into strike action.
The University and College Union are balloting on whether University of Edinburgh Staff will strike again, after the University revealed it was not in a deficit, but continued to cut jobs.
The University of Edinburgh most recently went on strike in November 2025, after 86 voting in favour of striking.
Therefore, it is likely that The University of Edinburgh may have a disrupted end to the academic year.
Photo by Mark Chan for The Student