Lecturers at UWS to be balloted on strike action

Lecturers and support staff at the University of West of Scotland (UWS) are balloting for potential strike action.

Both the EIS and Unison opened their indicative ballots on Thursday after a dispute was lodged with university officials in March.

The unions had asked for a no compulsory redundancy guarantee amid the university's organisational change project.

UWS said that it was dealing with a "challenging financial environment" along with the rest of higher education.

Dr Catherine Clark, EIS deputy branch secretary, said the union had tried to engage with the university in good faith.

She said the union believed there would be job losses based on discussions and she did not believe there was financial rationale for that.

"We've got really worried members," she said. "This is real life impact, not just for our members, but for students as well.

"We have five campuses so there will be impact on a number of communities if there are job losses."

Unison told BBC Scotland News that the university held "healthy financial reserves" that should be used to safeguard jobs in times of uncertainty.

The union said: "Despite repeated calls from Unison to remove the threat of compulsory redundancies, UWS management has refused—stating instead that retaining the option is a form of 'leverage' they must be allowed to consider.

"This stance is deeply concerning to our members and, in Unison's view, entirely unjustifiable."

UWS has campuses in Ayr, Dumfries, Lanarkshire, London and Paisley.

About 2,000 staff work at the institution, which had a student headcount of 21,000 in the 23/24 academic year.

The university posted a deficit of £14.4m in 2023/24 and its governing body, university court, has agreed an £8.4m deficit for the current financial year.

Senior management hope to return to a surplus in 2026/27 with proposals on how that could be achieved in the next few weeks.

A spokesperson for the university said the strike ballots were disappointing after the work it had undertaken with unions.

They said: "In common with the rest of the higher education sector in Scotland and across the UK, UWS is operating in a very challenging financial environment exacerbated by external factors that have driven a significant change in the size and shape of our student population.

"There remains an open invitation for the recognised trade unions to return and contribute to the ongoing work to shape the future direction of the university."

The EIS vote will close Friday 9 May and Unison's vote on 15 May.