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UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION (UCU) SCOTLAND
PRESS RELEASE
Monday 6 October 2025
Dundee University staff back industrial action for the second time in longstanding dispute over job cuts
Staff at Dundee University have today (Monday) again backed industrial action in the longstanding dispute over job cuts, as the university continues with a financial and leadership crisis.
In the ballot of members of the University and College Union (UCU) at Dundee University, 72% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 58%. 90% of members voting also said that they would be willing to take part in action short of strike which could include working to contract and not covering for any absent colleagues.
The crisis is now in its eleventh month since, in November 2024, the now disgraced principal announced a deficit of £30million and the possibility of compulsory redundancies. In response, UCU members voted conclusively to take industrial action to force management to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies. The need to re-ballot is a requirement of UK trade union law. The union said that today’s resounding result demonstrated the anger and disappointment with the lack of progress and failure of successive leaderships at the university to deliver a sustainable way forward that protects jobs and the university’s future.
Since the start of the crisis successive management teams have proposed savings and planned job cuts including the use of compulsory redundancies. Adding to the sense of uncertainty, evidence from the Scottish Funding Council in the Scottish Parliament last week, highlighted the unclear status of the current principal – the third since the crisis broke – and questioned the status of plans to rescue the institution, a university which plays a critical role educating students, carrying our world leading research and is critical to the city and the region’s economy.
The union said it was shameful that, almost a year after news of the deficit broke, staff at the university, who have done absolutely nothing wrong and who have continued to work dutifully throughout teaching students and carrying out research, still have the threat of compulsory redundancy hanging over them and are unclear what the future will bring. The union repeated calls for senior managers to finally rule out the use of compulsory redundancies, for increased transparency in decision making, and for meaningful negotiation so that staff and unions can meaningfully contribute to shaping the future of the university.
Melissa D’Ascenzio, branch co-president, said: “Staff have been more than patient as successive leaderships at Dundee have failed to find a sustainable way forward for our university which can carry the support of staff and students. This renewed mandate and the overwhelming nature of the ‘yes’ vote, shows that staff are as determined as ever to defend the university, and to ensure the university’s long-term future and protect jobs. We will now take time to consult with members over what the next steps are, but management at the university should be in no doubt that unless they rule out plans for the compulsory redundancies they’ve repeatedly pushed and start to consult transparently and genuinely with staff and students, that strikes and the disruption that entails remain a distinct possibility.”
Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “Almost a year on from the surprise announcement of the deficit and in a year when management failures have become clear, this ballot result demonstrates the continued resolve of staff and their determination to stand up for the university’s future. It is shameful that there remains to be a cloud of uncertainty over their future. It is beyond time that Professor Seaton and the rest of the leadership once and for all rule out the use of compulsory redundancies and work with us to deliver a future for the university that has the support of staff, students and the city.”
ends.
UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION (UCU) SCOTLAND
PRESS RELEASE
Monday 26 May 2025
University of Dundee compulsory redundancy plans result in new wave of strikes
University and College Union (UCU) members at the University of Dundee today (Monday 26th May) begin a further five days* of strike action over threatened job losses and staff facing compulsory redundancy.
The strike action is in response to the University’s failure to comply with the Scottish Government’s resolve that compulsory redundancy should be avoided when providing £22m of emergency funding. Compulsory redundancy is still being pursed in both the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS) and the Educational Assistive Technology unit (EduAT) team at the university.
The first minister has stated on the record that the Leverhulme Centre is’ fundamental to the future of Dundee University’ while the EduAT team is transforming the education of disabled students in the UK and beyond.
Ian Ellis co-president of DUCU said “It is baffling why the Leverhulme centre or EduAT team remains at risk. DUCU is committed to playing a positive role in ensuring a sustainable future for the university, but the use of compulsory redundancies was unacceptable.”
“The announcement at the end of April that, instead of up to 700 jobs being cut, the University is looking to lose 300 staff via a voluntary severance scheme was welcome. However, the threat of compulsory redundancies is still looming over staff at the end of the voluntary severance scheme and there are staff at the University that are currently facing redundancy in the Leverhulme centre and EduAT. We call on the employer to abide by the Scottish Government’s call to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies, and to commit to making any savings through voluntary methods.”
The strike follows 15 days of strikes in February and March. Since then, university senior management, in the face of continued industrial action and criticism from the Scottish Government and local politicians, backtracked on their original plans to cut 700 jobs. Management initially accepted Scottish Government advice, announcing a reduced figure of 300 job losses through a voluntary redundancy process.
Union members were then shocked that staff were still facing compulsory redundancy in both the Leverhulme centre and EduAT.
DUCU said:
“The employer has refused to abide by calls from the Scottish Government, and given jobs are on the line our members felt they had no choice but to embark upon further industrial action. That’s why members will be taking strike action for five days. UCU wants to work for a sustainable future for the university, for students, staff and the city of Dundee, but our members must take a stand against compulsory redundancies”.
Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, said: “Some seven months after first announcing that management failures had led to an unforeseen deficit, the fact that staff are still facing an uncertain future with management still unwilling to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies shows the ongoing crisis in the university’s leadership and governance. The intervention of Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council is welcome and essential, but as well as dealing with the immediate crisis at Dundee, we also need to see wholescale revision of governance arrangements at universities to ensure this never happens again.”
Please find here the link to the unedited opinion piece by Dr Carlo Morelli on the DUCU’s plan to get the university back on track. A version of this piece was published in The Courier.
Read the Op Ed by Prof. Angela Daly (DUCU Honorary Secretary), published in The Courier, on why she and countless other Dundee staff are going on strike.
You can also find here the text of the resolution passed by Dundee City Council on 21 April 2025 on the crisis of management at the University.
22 May 2025 – Message to members
It is with deep regret that we inform you of the failure of UEG to meaningfully engage with the dispute resolution process.
Our requests remained as indicated in the letter to management on Friday 16th May:
1. withdrawal of section 188;
2: commitment to no compulsory redundancies until at least June 2026.
We were promised that we would receive a response in writing in time for us to call an emergency branch meeting on Friday. As it stands, no communication has been received from UEG. Hence, our action will go ahead on Monday 26 May 2025 as planned.