University Staff Threaten Strike Action Over Job Cuts

Employees at Coventry University have threatened to strike following the institution’s announcement of nearly 100 job reductions. Coventry University intends to eliminate the equivalent of 92 positions, stating the necessity to “adapt to a new financial reality” resulting from Brexit, a tuition fee freeze, and updated regulations concerning international students. The university also indicated plans to transfer several employees to a different company within its organizational group, which would necessitate their departure from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). According to the University and College Union (UCU), over 100 staff members are at risk of job loss, and an additional 200 face contract transfers. Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, commented that the university had “bet big on ever increasing international student numbers” and that employees would “to pay the price for its failures”. She further characterized the effort to remove staff from the TPS as “straight out of the Scrooge playbook.” Grady elaborated, “Universities being allowed to leave industry standard schemes by the back door is doing irreparable harm to the sector.” The university responded by stating that the entire higher education sector was encountering comparable challenges, and despite an increase in student numbers, it needed to adjust student-staff ratios. It specified that the proposed reduction of the equivalent of 92 full-time positions represented less than 9% of its academic workforce across the three colleges comprising the university. The institution also mentioned that the TPS mandated the university to contribute 28.68% of staff salaries into the pension, which it deemed “simply unaffordable”. The union reported receiving communication from university management indicating that 25 academics would be departing from the school of economics, finance and accounting, 40 from the college of arts, 25 from engineering, and an additional 28 from a merger of two other departments. The union stated its belief that staff might be compelled to leave as early as March next year. The university has declined to comment on the number of staff who are UCU members.