Staff at University of Edinburgh who are members of the University and College Union (UCU) Scotland have confirmed they will go on strike next week over spending cuts and job losses.
All members will go on strike for two days, 30 March and 1 April with some members also striking during the rest of the week if they have teaching or administrative duties. The union will hold a rally at 1pm on 1 April in Bristo Square.
The union say that after strikes last year a short term deal was struck with the university whereby no compulsory redundancies would be made until the end of July 2026. But the union has decided that management has breached the agreement by “not engaging meaningfully”, including barring them from key meetings. They also claim that the union has not shared financial information which was necessary to the negotiations.
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said: “The decision from UCU Edinburgh to take industrial action brings a premature end to the agreement we reached in December 2025. By targeting strikes during teaching, exams and graduations, our students will now be placed under more strain during an already challenging and important time. While we respect the right to protest, we will do everything we can to protect our students and staff from any disruption.
“It is disappointing that the good faith and openness we have maintained in our engagements with UCUE have not been reciprocated and that this action is being directed against our students. We will continue all legally required consultation with union representatives and will continue to uphold our commitments under the agreement, as we believe this is in the best interests of our staff.”
UCU Edinburgh branch president, Sophia Woodman, said: “We thought we had a deal which would protect members until the end of April, but members are clear that management haven’t engaged in meaningful consultation and we’ve no choice but to come back out on strike. To resolve this dispute and the save jobs and rule out the use of compulsory redundancies in the long term, we need managers and the principal to engage openly and honestly with us, including negotiations on finances. Unions have proposed a framework for redundancy avoidance that outlines terms of meaningful engagement. We are ready to return to negotiations tomorrow to find ways forward that avoid further damaging staff cuts.”
UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, said: “It is disappointing that management have gone back on the deal agreed in December. Members at Edinburgh are clear that they need their employer to engage fully, get back to negotiations, and find a solution to this dispute.”
With the current mandate for strike action finishing at the end of April, members of the union at the university are currently voting in a new ballot over the estimated 1,800 job losses, workload, hidden redundancies and meaningful consultation.
