Dundee University staff vote to strike over cuts

Staff at the University of Dundee have voted for strike action over the university's plans to cut jobs due to a potential deficit of £30m.

The University and College Union (UCU) Scotland said that 74% of its members had backed strike action, on a turnout of 64%.

But the university said balloting staff before it had presented a recovery plan was premature, and only a minority had backed strike action.

In November, principal Prof Iain Gillespie told staff that job losses were "inevitable" and blamed "an extremely challenging period" for the UK higher education sector.

He said action was needed to secure the University of Dundee's long-term future and warned that that the next few years would be difficult.

Prof Gillespie resigned a month later after the university defended a £7,000 business trip he took to Hong Kong with a colleague.

The UCU said other members of the senior management team had also left, and management had not ruled out the use of compulsory redundancies.

It said the potential number of job cuts was unknown and criticised the university for its lack of engagement with them.

The university currently employs more than 3,000 people.

The former principal had warned that, despite a recruitment freeze and reducing operational expenditure, the institution was still looking at a deficit of between £25m and £30m.

Local branch co-president Melissa D'Ascenzio said: "By voting in these numbers UCU members at the University of Dundee have been crystal clear that the university needs to think again about cutting jobs and the use of compulsory redundancies.

"We remain absolutely committed to the university and are ready to play our part in helping deliver a sustainable future."

A university spokesperson said: "We want to work constructively with the unions on building a more sustainable future for the university.

"This action, voted for by less than 10% of our staff, will not help any of us in doing that."

"We will do all we can to mitigate the effects of any industrial action on our students."