Further strike action at Uni of Nottingham over job cuts

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced further strike action at the University of Nottingham as part of an ongoing dispute over what it called “vicious” job cuts.

The union’s members have taken 20 days of strike action since September and will now take a further 22 days before Christmas.    

The full strike dates include: 

• Week 1: Monday 10 – Friday 14 November 
• Week 2: Monday 17 – Friday 21 November 
• Week 3: Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 November 
• Week 4: Monday 1 – Friday 5 December 
• Week 5: Monday 8 – Friday 12 December 

It comes after over 650 staff have already been axed over the past two years, while the university’s latest plans to reorganise the academic departments and push for a higher surplus could see over 200 jobs lost. 

UCU said it was “saddened that students’ education will continue to be disrupted but the union cannot stand back and allow this to go on”. 

It added that current and future students “will not get the education they deserve if courses are culled and the staff who remain are overworked to the point of exhaustion”, and that the university’s management has “disregard” for students’ interests.

Nottingham UCU branch president Lopa Leach said: “Our ask is simple, no compulsory redundancies for 2025 and 2026. The university is not financially strapped, yet it is choosing to reshape at such a speed it will only cause further harm.  

“We want senior managers to slow down their plans, talk to us and avoid the destruction they appear hell bent on.  Our message to them is clear. Industrial action is a last resort and we stand ready for negotiations to settle the dispute. The ball is in their court.”