Labour Faces Possible Strike Ballot Over University Cuts
The move comes against a backdrop of a spiralling financial crisis in the higher education sector (Alamy)
3 min read
The government is facing a potential strike ballot by university staff over "shameful cuts" to university funding and hardened attitudes towards international students.
The University and College Union — the country's largest post-16 education union — voted over the weekend to prepare for an industrial dispute with the Department for Education over university funding.
Such a vote is the first step towards a potential strike ballot, the first ever against a Labour government.
The move comes against the backdrop of a spiralling financial crisis in the higher education sector, with institutions cutting courses and announcing redundancies to balance the books as the government pushes the need for efficiencies.
UCU has warned that the crisis facing universities could see over 10,000 staff lose their jobs.
While the proposed dispute will be over the funding issues created by successive governments, the union has also pointed to decisions made by Labour in recent months, such as cutting funding for high-cost subjects, and visa restrictions that are expected to further stem international student recruitment.
PoliticsHome reported last week that the Immigration White Paper had sparked concern among some Labour MPs, after it revealed the government was considering introducing a levy on international student income.
It comes as ministers ready themselves for potential industrial action across the NHS after pay settlements for doctors and nurses were denounced by unions.
The pay award for teachers of 4 per cent was met more positively by the sector, but concerns over the funding of the rise remain, and Labour faces the fight over funding that plagued the Conservatives in recent years.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "It is shameful that university cuts have become so severe under a Labour government that our union is now laying the ground for a trade union dispute with the Education Secretary."
Grady added that while members are "fighting to protect jobs and UK academia’s world leading reputation", they are "being hamstrung by a government that has refused to deal with the underlying financial issues plaguing our sector and now seems intent on making the crisis worse still with new cuts, levies, and restrictions on recruitment".
Grady urged the Prime Minister and the Chancellor not to stand in the way of proper funding for universities.
"This vote sends them a crystal-clear message: if you refuse to listen to the educators responsible for the world-leading reputation of Britain’s universities, then you must be prepared to face a potential strike ballot."
The decision to prepare for an industrial dispute with the Labour government was taken at the union's congress in Liverpool this weekend.
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
