‘WE have to step up the fight and unite in action across the country to defend all jobs in higher education,’ Hermione Xanthopoulou, Director of Research and Senior Lecturer in Law, at Brunel University said yesterday morning.
Speaking on the picket line at the main entrance to the west London University, Hermione told News Line: ‘Our action is too fragmented over what is obviously a sector-wide issue. Our department has had six voluntary and six compulsory redundancies. Letters just went out yesterday and I’m very worried about the impact.
‘Higher Education is a sector which is being really hard hit all over the country, but there seems to be no publicity about what is going on. It’s being ignored in the main media. We have to step up the action.’
University and College Union (UCU) members at Brunel, in Uxbridge, held their second strike day yesterday against hundreds of redundancies which are already being implemented.
Instead of calling all out action to defend every job, the UCU called a one day strike last month and held a one day strike yesterday.
There will be further strike days on March 18, 20, 24, 25, 28; April 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. The union has not indicated what is to happen after 11th April.
Bianca de Haan, Senior Lecturer in cognitive neuroscience, said yesterday: ‘It’s quite clear from the very lively picket here that there is a lot of anger. We had a very strong turnout in our ballot for strike action.
‘We are fighting to save our jobs and the quality of eduction that Brunel University provides. The university’s plans are appalling – to make 20% of us redundant, with more than one third of us at risk of losing our jobs.
‘Making 20% of staff redundant will harm the student experience and severely damage their ability to research.’
UCU General Secretary Jo Grady, who was on the picket line, told News Line: ‘Our members here are incredibly strong. They had a very impressive ballot result, they are standing together and are developing powerful strategies.
UCU members here and all over the country are defending higher education in the UK against managers who are trying to make huge cuts.’
Asked if the UCU would call a national strike to defend further and higher education jobs, she replied: ‘We already have a national campaign with action taking place at Newcastle, Sheffield, Durham, Dundee and it’s spreading.’
Steven Smith, Biomedical Science lecturer, said: ‘We’re here to defend jobs and we are fighting to win. Colleagues are already receiving redundancy letters this week.’
Gus Bell, Brunel University Deputy Director of Research, Support and Development, said: ‘The way this is being handled is underhand and the people are very angry at the way they are being treated.
‘There is no rationale to the redundancies. It’s a culling exercise with the university seeking to offload as many staff as they can, regardless of how departments are supposed to function in the future.’
