University of Bradford staff to strike over job cuts

University of Bradford staff will strike for 10 days later this month following a dispute over job cuts, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced.

The action is due to take place every weekday from 22 September to 3 October, disrupting the first two weeks of the academic year. 

Pickets will be mounted daily from 8am to 12pm at four entrances to the campus, and a rally is scheduled for 11.30am on 22 September at the Great Horton Road entrance.

The strike follows a ballot in which 82% of participating staff backed industrial action, on a turnout of 57%. It also comes after earlier stoppages in June, July and August.

Plans under consultation include closing chemistry and film and television courses. The chemistry school has developed apprenticeship programmes for regional industries, while Bradford was named the UK City of Culture for 2025 and was the first UNESCO City of Film.

Despite voluntary redundancy schemes and revisions to original proposals, nine professors and 47 lecturers in the Schools of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences and of Built Environment, Architecture and Creative Industries remain at risk of compulsory redundancy. 

UCU argued that redeploying staff into areas with high workloads could reduce overwork while saving jobs.

The university has also signalled further cuts in non-academic roles, with technicians among those now under review.

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “UCU members will be on strike again for two weeks, as part of our ongoing fight against course closures and job cuts at the University of Bradford. Management needs to listen to the voices of its staff, rethink the cuts and rule out compulsory redundancies. 

“It is now for the employer to decide if the university wants to avoid disruption to students at the beginning of the new academic year.”