Union members at Newcastle University have voted to join a growing wave of strike action across UK higher education.
The ballot was under way even before the institution announced plans to axe 300 full-time equivalent staff posts last month, having been called in response to a broader multimillion-pound package of cuts.
Newcastle has warned that it cannot rule out compulsory redundancies as it looks to slash costs by roughly £20 million, and the Russell Group member has faced further criticism over plans to reduce the proportion of its research that it supports from its own resources.
But staff have pledged to fight the cuts, and 83 per cent of University and College Union members voted in favour of strike action in the ballot, on a turnout of 64 per cent. A further 88 per cent said that they would be willing to take action short of a strike.
David Bates, secretary of Newcastle’s UCU branch, told Times Higher Education that the results “speak to the anger, but also the determination and the defiance that people have”.
“We really hope that the university will stand up and listen now. They’ve got a chance to negotiate with us in good faith and we hope they’ll do that knowing the strength of feeling in the branch,” Bates said.
The successful ballot for strike is the third in less than a month, following votes at the universities of Dundee and East Anglia.
Matt Perry, chair of the Newcastle UCU branch, said that the UK higher education sector faced “an unprecedented crisis”.
“There are huge amounts of anger amongst staff and students about job losses and course closures,” he said.
“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.”
Newcastle’s cuts were announced after it said that a shortfall against projected international student enrolment left the institution with a £35 million hole in its budget.
The university, which posted a £5.2 million deficit for 2023-24, has also announced a freeze on promotions, restrictions on recruitment, and reductions to travel budgets.
The Newcastle branch, alongside UCU’s northern regional committee, has also published an open letter to the secretary of state for education, Bridget Phillipson, claiming that “immediate action is needed to avert a disaster” across the UK’s higher education sector.
It argues that cuts are particularly being felt in the north of England, which has the lowest higher education participation rate in the country, with only 29 per cent of 18-year-olds going to university, compared with 50 per cent of those from London.
“This gap in educational opportunities is a driver of inequality and the north-south divide. Each job lost and course closed narrows opportunities for young people living here,” the letter reads.
A Newcastle University spokesperson said: “We are not immune to the challenges currently affecting the UK higher education sector and like many universities, we are implementing a range of cost-saving measures to ensure we remain in a sound financial position. We want to work constructively with our unions to build a more sustainable future for universities while supporting our colleagues throughout this challenging time.”
