by Innes Paton, Fred Byrne & Amelia Boag McGlynn.
Staff at the University of Aberdeen today voted to back industrial action in a dispute involving cuts and possible use of compulsory redundancies.
83% of University and College Union (UCU) members at the university voted to back strike action in a ballot that had 60% turnout.
Meanwhile, 90% said they would take part in action short of strike, which can include refusing to cover for absent colleagues, not undertaking voluntary activities, or a marking and assessment boycott.
Why have staff voted for industrial action?
At a recent staff meeting, new Principal Pete Edwards had refused to rule out compulsory redundancies, brushing off questions about lack of student and staff union involvement in money-saving plans titled Adapting for Continued Success. This comes as the senior management team (SMT) aims to break even by 2028 from a current deficit of £4.3 million.
Now, academic staff have voted to support industrial action for the first time since 2024.
Dan Cutts, Aberdeen UCU branch co-chair, said: “This clear vote shows the strength of feeling among staff and that we see management’s plans for what they are; a threat to the student experience, to the workforce and to the breadth of research carried out at the university.”
Cutts had previously spoken out against job losses on STV in November, highlighting the struggles felt by all departments of the institution’s staff: “People want to succeed and do what they do best across the whole of the university including security staff, cleaners, technicians. We are all struggling with workload pressures and just not being rewarded for it.”
Union members said that Adapting for Continued Success was “nothing of the sort”, and that job cuts would “threaten the student experience and the university’s strength in research.”
Fraser Bell, Chief Operating Officer, told The Gaudie in October that not only was Adapting for Continued Success “necessary” to support the delivery of the university’s aspirations, but that change is an “integral” part of the university’s tradition.
When will strikes take place?
It is not yet confirmed if, or when, strikes will take place; this will depend on the results of negotiations.
The UCU has said that “the employer has so far not engaged in any meaningful way with them over the plans but that they remained open to discussions to resolve the dispute.”
“The union is ready to negotiate, but we need management to engage and work with UCU to save jobs,” added UCU Aberdeen co-chair Dan Cutts.
Jo Grady, UCU General Secretary, said: “The new principal, Professor Edwards, should sit down with the unions and rule out the use of compulsory redundancies before it’s too late and this dispute escalates further.”
Would students support strike action?
Reporters from The Gaudie visited Union Brew to gauge student reaction on the announcement.
Majka, a second-year English and Film student told us: “I would be willing to support strike action, but it would depend on how it would impact students. I wonder if it would be possible for academics to release lectures in a different way.”
A PhD student said they would “one hundred percent” support the strikes because “staff are people too, and if they are not getting the money they need and the support they need, then how can they support students? If they are stressed then the standards of teaching will decrease. I think staff should be protected.
“Students would fundamentally understand if staff are transparent and say why they are striking and how it will benefit students in the long run.”
A biology student on exchange from Switzerland told us they would support the strikes because staff “have important jobs and deserve to be paid well.” Despite arriving in Aberdeen less than a month ago, they would back strikes even if it impacted their exchange experience.
The Students’ Union has been contacted for comment.
How are staff members feeling?
Staff members’ vote to strike comes after a report found that the university had a “toxic” work culture, with one academic complaining they are “demoralised, over-worked and anxious.”
The Aberdeen UCU ballot comes in short succession after a national ballot on real term pay cuts failed to meet the majority turnout needed for industrial action.
A senior lecturer told The Gaudie that due to two separate ballots at different times, the Aberdeen turnout of 60% may be an “underrepresentation” of staff willing to strike:
“This will inevitably suppress the turnout, both because of the fatigue factor and also because people are more likely to misremember having already voted, when in fact, they’d voted in the ballot for the national dispute.”
Remaining anonymous, the senior lecturer also expressed the outcome’s reflection of staff attitudes towards SMT:
“Given the extremely low morale of staff at the university, I would say that both of these results dramatically under-represent the lack of confidence in the present senior management of the university.”
They added: “Nobody wants to go on strike, and a strong result hopefully means concerns will be heard and we won’t have to.”
University management reacts
A University of Aberdeen spokesperson told The Gaudie: “The continued challenges and financial pressures testing the UK higher education sector mean change is necessary.
“Our Adapting for Continued Success transformation programme will help tackle our deficit and also deliver a more resilient, relevant and sustainable University.
“We understand concerns raised but the prospect of industrial action is disappointing, particularly when our students would be those most affected.”