Hundreds of professional services staff at the University of Nottingham have voted for strike action in a row over job cuts, says UNISON.
Workers including security officers, library personnel and administrators are set to walk out unless university bosses scrap plans to axe jobs. More than three quarters (78%) of staff who voted backed strike action.
The row centres on the university’s plans to axe 356 posts. Earlier this year UNISON submitted a proposal that would save the institution up to £50m without need for compulsory job losses. Despite university leaders accepting elements of the union’s plans, just five posts have been saved.
A recent investigation* suggested the new university campus has already cost £47m, on top of the £37.5m it cost to buy the site, at a time when almost 400 staff had taken voluntary redundancy since September 2024.
UNISON East Midlands head of higher education Elliot Dean said: “It’s extremely concerning that the university continues to spend tens of millions on new developments while claiming financial hardship and proposing to axe hundreds of jobs as a result.
“Staff are bearing the brunt of cost-cutting while decisions about multi-million-pound projects are being made with limited transparency. That undermines trust and morale across the campus.
“No one takes the decision to strike lightly but these workers feel they’re made to pay the price of poor decision-making by university bosses.”
Notes to editors:
– * The University of Nottingham spent over £47m on the Castle Meadow Campus, plus the £37.5 million purchase of the former HMRC site, using a proposed 10-year budget in just four years. Parts of the unfinished campus have had to be leased out. The full story is here.
– Strike dates have yet to be set.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
