Staff at Goldsmiths, University of London have voted to take strike action over plans to cut more than 100 academic jobs, but a union dispute at Northumbria University could soon be over after the institution ruled out compulsory redundancies.
Eighty-seven per cent of University and College Union (UCU) members who voted at Goldsmiths said yes to strikes and other forms of industrial action – including a potential marking boycott – on a turnout of 69 per cent.
The university has begun a consultation on plans to reduce its staff team by 91.5 full-time equivalent posts, with more than 130 jobs impacted in total.
UCU said cuts on this scale would halve the number of academics in the Schools of Arts and Humanities; Culture and Society; and Professional Studies, Science and Technology.
Subjects including history and sociology would be worst affected – losing half their staff teams – with more than a third of English and creative writing academics also departing.
