Uclan teaching staff vote to strike in jobs dispute

Teaching staff at the University of Central Lancashire have voted to go on strike in a dispute over job losses.

The university said about six posts at the Faculty of Culture and Creative Industries were at risk after more than 250 workers took voluntary redundancy.

It said the reasons for the cuts was a decline in market demand and they were not tied to any government moves to reduce core funding in the field.

The University and College Union (UCU) described the plan as "unnecessary".

A UCU spokesman said student enrolment at the university had risen by more than 7% between 2017 and 2019, with a further 5% increase over the past year.

He said 79% of members who voted supported strike action, with 88% backing action short of a strike.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said Uclan had "already cut hundreds of staff over the past 18 months whilst seeing an increase in student numbers".

She added that the Preston-based university "talks about budget deficits whilst holding cash reserves of £100m and embarking on new building projects costing tens of millions of pounds".

The university said in a statement that while student applications and recruitment numbers had "increased during the last few years, staff costs have also disproportionately accelerated".

It said it "took steps to proactively correct this position through a restructuring process" and added that there would be measures put in place during any strike "to minimise its impact on students".

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