The staff at Newcastle University continued to make national news after a vote on strike action was announced by the University and College Union (UCU).
This is in response to ongoing attempts to fill a £35m shortfall. The University have brought in a promotion freeze, travel restrictions and a voluntary redundancy scheme across all staff. “Unfunded research” is also a target of cuts.
The University has previously said this is linked to a shortfall in international students, and aims to take £10m from “non-pay budgets”, and £20m from “colleague costs.” An internal email reveals targets being allocated to departments for the number of people they should aim to make redundant. This totals 300 full-time equivalent jobs. Vice-Chancellor Chris Day has not ruled out compulsory redundancies. In response to the cuts, the UCU is balloting over 1,000 union members on strike action. The previous consultant ballot saw 74.6% vote in favour of a strike.
One third-year undergraduate saying they were “disheartened and annoyed” about a cancelled module “I am now stuck doing a module that I don't enjoy or find interesting.”
One Newcastle University lecturer, who asked not to be named, noted: “The people that they want to get rid of are the people who actually do the work. There are other ways to save costs rather than getting rid of people because that's their livelihoods…why don't those people on very big salaries take a small percentage cut?”
In response to the cuts, the UCU is balloting over 1,000 union members on strike action
An earlier survey by the UCU found some members were “concerned that there is a lack of empathy” from the University Executive Board. There are also questions about disparities in pay, with 246 individuals at Newcastle University being on annual salaries of over £100,000.
They also noted that previous strike action in 2023 had had a “huge impact on (their) education”. In an earlier Courier interview, Chris Day said: “We've got time to take the right decisions for how we manage this great university going forward to protect the student experience”. Newcastle University UCU branch chair Matt Perry has said that members “refuse to pay the price” for financial mismanagement, stating: "We will be voting for industrial action because the cuts profoundly damage us, our students, and our research.”