Newcastle University staff start month of industrial action over potential job losses

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) staged a picket outside Newcastle University’s £35m King’s Gate building on Barras Bridge on Tuesday, marking the first of 14 days of non-consecutive walk outs throughout March. Industrial action was agreed by UCU members on February 14, following the University’s announcement of £30m in cuts, including £20m from its wage bill, equating to around 300 full-time positions. 

Newcastle University, while operating extended voluntary severance schemes, is unable to rule out compulsory job losses. 

The picket, scheduled from 8am to 11pm, will be followed by a demonstration at Grey’s Monument at 12pm, with guest speakers including General Secretary of the UCU Jo Grady, local councillors, other union officials and speakers from other regional Higher Education institutions. 

Newcastle UCU Branch Chair, Matt Perry, said: “There are huge amounts of anger amongst staff and students about job losses and course closures. Ballots for action are occurring up and down the country. Dundee, Brunel, Kent, Sheffield, Cardiff, Newcastle, Sheffield Hallam: the resistance is spreading. Job losses should be a red line for every branch.”

Ahead of the £30m in prospective cuts, tensions between the UCU and management reached a fever pitch last September, when the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed Newcastle University was facing a £35m deficit, largely attributed to a drop in the number of international students. The decline in international students, around 13,100 according to Home Office figures, has also plagued other universities across the UK, with Cardiff University bosses seeking to cut as many as 400 positions. 

To counteract the existing deficit, Newcastle University introduced pay and promotion freezes, travel restrictions, (unless business critical or externally paid for), and a review into the institution’s building programme. 

The legally defined strike days for academic staff at Newcastle are as follows:

March 4, 6

March 10, 11, 12

March 17, 18, 19, 20

March 24, 25, 26, 27, 28

A spokesperson for Newcastle University said: “We are extremely disappointed by the start of industrial action while also recognising that it is not a decision that colleagues take lightly.”

Click here to learn more about NewcastleWorld: Essential, our weekly newsletter, delivering the city’s headline highlights to your inbox

“The challenges we are facing are being felt by universities across the UK and are based on a combination of structural underfunding, rising costs, and shifts in international student markets.

“Decisions on how we respond to these pressures are always taken with the long-term interests of our University in mind, including input from staff and student representatives on our governing bodies. We want to work constructively with our unions to build a more sustainable future while supporting our colleagues throughout this challenging time.  

“We have put in place measures to maintain academic standards and the integrity of our teaching. Our goal is to minimise the impact of any strike action on students’ educational experience and on those colleagues not taking part.”