Staff and student unite in protest

Unions will fight job losses

By Louisa Orchard, Leila Grove and Dominic Scott

Over 250 lecturers, support staff and students have been protesting against the proposed job cuts at the University.

Protesters burnt letters outside the Edward Boyle library on Thursday October 8. The letters, a legal requirement under Section 188, had been sent to inform some staff of the potential threat of redundancies. 

The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) have proposed to form a committee to avoid redundancies. They believe that the issues that should be reviewed are: putting a freeze on external recruitment, a termination on all consultancy agreements, no outsourcing, no bonuses, a freeze on pay of non-clinical people earning over £100k, equality impact assessment and a freeze on building programmes.

Malcolm Povey, UCU Leeds branch president, said: “I am sure that effective co-operation between the University and the unions can prevent compulsory redundancies.

“However, compulsory redundancies themselves are a Rubicon for the unions and it is not in the interest of students that staff are forced to leave the jobs they have invested years of work in and the students who they teach, inevitably increasing staff-student ratios and reducing the quality of the education they receive.”

Vice Chancellor Michael Arthur responded to the protest: “I guess it was just a gesture of concern and I understand that. I don’t suppose for one minute that it will be the last demonstration or the last expression of concern.”

Ged Colgan, a student present at the rally, said: “We wanted to go and show our solidarity with staff that risk losing their jobs. They are under attack and that means that we as students at this university are also under attack.”

He continued: “More and more students are coming to Leeds and that is a great thing, but we haven’t seen increases in staffing to go with this. I am paying about £70 an hour for the contact hours that I get; we’ve got massive over-crowding.”

Talks between all sides are hoped to be successful.

Mike Gladstone, LUU Education Officer, said: “Over the coming months, LUU’s priority will be to represent students and their concerns at the highest levels in the University.

“Whilst the exact details of the cuts are as of yet unknown, you can be assured that Leeds University Union will do all it can to protect students and the services they rely on. The University is committed to delivering the best possible education for students at Leeds, and LUU will fight to make sure they deliver on that promise.

 “The tough economic downturn and the likely future cuts in government funding for higher education mean that universities across the country are facing an uncertain and unstable financial future.

“The University of Leeds is better placed than many, but that does not mean that hard decisions can be avoided. Cuts may be necessary to stabilise the University’s financial position, but it is vital that these cuts do not impact upon the student experience at Leeds.

“This is the position that we have outlined to the University management team. We are not here to blindly support the University, and nor are we here to be used as a political tool by the staff trade unions. Our priority is with students, and we will put your interests before any other when responding to these cuts.”

The other unions present, Unison and Unite, were not available for comment.