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The Herald Scotland

Edinburgh University could cut 1750 staff jobs, claims union

The UCU is at odds with the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and the University of Edinburgh. It is campaigning for what it calls its Four Fights. These include 'a fair pay deal, action on reducing the pay gap, the elimination of casualisation and reduction of workloads.' University of Edinburgh students have endured wide-scale industrial action over recent years, including a Marking and Assessment Boycott in 2023 which left hundreds of students without degrees for months. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Peter Mathieson, has sent emails to staff over the past few months about the financial state of the university, claiming it has to reduce its annual costs by £140m. In emails to staff, Mathieson said 'nothing is off the table,' as the university has 'some tough decisions' to make. The university has not yet said exactly what these decisions would be, however, options outlined by Mathieson include: 'restructuring, possible closures of programmes or even Schools, mergers or shared services between Schools, centralisation of some services, outsourcing of others.' Read more Around 350 staff members have already taken the voluntary redundancy scheme and academic promotions will be frozen for the 2025-26 academic year, however Mathieson has not ruled out compulsory redundancies. UCU Edinburgh President Sophia Woodman said: 'The idea that that you can cut your way to profitability in a sector like education seems really baffling as a strategy.' Mathieson has stated that this forecasted deficit 'must be reversed so that we are generating an operational surplus again, allowing ourselves to continue to invest in our staff, students and infrastructure. The magnitude of the financial gap that we need to close over the next 18 months is about 10% of our annual turnover, which is a similar percentage to the position of many other universities. This has to be a recurring and sustainable reduction in our cost base. For us this is of the order of £140million.' UCU Edinburgh claims the university is 'manufacturing a crisis.' Woodman said that the university is not running a £140m deficit, but is looking to cut that amount to retain running an operational surplus. Of this £140m, she claimed that management had told the union that £90m will be staff cost cuts – which the union estimates is equal to 1750 jobs or 1 in 8 staff members being made redundant. The union said that financial problems were due to 'over-ambitious' capital spending, which the union has claimed 'will be at its highest level over the next two years.' Woodman said: 'Management has gambled on endless growth in student numbers, specifically international student numbers.' She added that staff have seen 'no admission that management's poor planning has gotten us into this mess. A little bit of humility would go a long way in acknowledging that the problems we face are due to their poor planning and the lack of effective of governance by our governance bodies.' University of Edinburgh (Image: free) A strike ballot has been open to all UCU Edinburgh members since April 22 and is set to close on May 20. While the ballot is still being voted on by members, Woodman said that 'historically our branch has always made the ballot threshold.' If staff vote in favour of strike action, students can expect their degrees to get disrupted by industrial action once more. Students have voiced their frustration over further disruption to their degrees, however, some have backed staff striking. Lucy Frewin, a third year International Relations student, said: 'The cuts are the result of poor financial management from the University of Edinburgh and the increasing neglect from the senior leadership towards the university's main purpose as a place of learning and education, with their focus instead on prestige projects like the Edinburgh Futures Institute. It is deeply unfair for staff to bear the cost of this poor management.' Jemima Hawkins, a third year English Literature student, said: 'I fully support the UCU decision to strike. Obviously the prospect of missing classes in 4th year due to striking staff is a worry but I appreciate the need for it to be done to provide better pay for those teaching us.' Politics and Sociology student Ava Lang stated her support for striking staff saying: 'I hope the strikes will lead to a U-turn on the decision for these compulsory redundancies and facilitate a conversation between the university and the union for better protection of their staff so we can get the complete education we deserve and are paying for. We want to learn and I hope the university will take action to prevent the constant and continuous need for strikes that have come to characterise our University of Edinburgh experience.' Woodman said 'nobody wants to go on strike.' Other staff members who commented wished to remain anonymous. One staff member voiced their concern over the strikes 'likely efficacy when management is clearly determined to drive through massive cuts for ideological purposes rather than actual necessity.' Read more Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, told The Herald: 'We have been very clear that our current financial position is not sustainable. We are not immune to the challenges that the higher education sector is currently facing and the actions we must take now will ensure that we remain strongly placed for the future, so that we can continue to attract the brightest minds and remain a world-leading university. 'We are continuing to look at all aspects of cost reduction across the university and this includes both staff and non-staff operating costs. Staff-focused expenditure has been reduced through recruitment constraints, our voluntary severance scheme and a pause in academic promotions, and we are taking time to consider any further activities in this area. 'We appreciate that that this is causing uncertainty within our community. We are continuing to liaise with our joint trade unions and are providing regular updates as we take the necessary steps to ensure a financially sustainable future." The University of Edinburgh didn't respond to our requests to confirm the claim that 1750 jobs were at risk.