Dundee University staff re-balloted as financial crisis enters 11th month

Staff at the University of Dundee are being re-balloted on strike action as the institution’s financial and management crisis nears a year.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will vote between September 5 and October 6 in line with legislation that requires trade unions to renew mandates for industrial action every six months.

The dispute began last November when then-principal Professor Iain Gillespie announced £30m in cuts and possible compulsory redundancies. UCU members backed industrial action, which led to walkouts earlier this year.

Senior management twice indicated compulsory redundancies would be ruled out, but a draft recovery plan suggested 390 posts could go, including 170 through compulsory means. The Scottish Funding Council has since rejected the plan and asked the university to revise it.

Melissa D’Ascenzio, UCU Dundee branch co-president, said: “The university’s students and staff have been badly let down.

“It’s wrong that uncertainty and the threat of job cuts continue to loom over staff at a time when the university’s finances have been stabilised by the intervention of the Scottish Funding Council and all efforts should be directed towards co-creating a credible and sustainable path to recovery that includes staff and students’ voices.

“Strike action is always a last resort, but staff at the University of Dundee have proven that they will take action to protect jobs and the future of the university.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady added: “It’s scarcely believable that after almost a year, with the university on its third principal in that period, the university remains in crisis and staff are having to be balloted again to save jobs and secure the future of the university.

“The fact that university senior managers have again reverted to their default position of compulsory redundancies means that we need this ruled out once and for all.”

The crisis has already led to a string of high-level departures. A report by Professor Pamela Gillies found that Gillespie, interim principal Professor Shane O’Neill and former chief operating officer Jim McGeorge acted as a “triumvirate” during the turmoil.

The university is now seeking its fourth finance chief in under a year, after Chris Reilly quit just eight days into the role this summer.

In June, the Scottish Government stepped in with a £40m bailout over three years, with education secretary Jenny Gilruth pledging close monitoring of how the money is spent.

A spokesperson for Dundee University said: “We are in continuing dialogue with the Scottish Funding Council regarding a recovery plan for the university.”