Dundee University calls union’s strike threat ‘premature’

Dundee University has said a strike threat by an academics’ union over job losses is premature.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU),who took part in a ballot, voted by more than two to one in favour of industrial action.

A university spokesman said it respected the union’s role and also respected individual rights to participate in union activity.

But he noted the union represented only 469 of the university’s 2,076 academic staff and just 178 UCU members had voted.

He went on: “We believe the majority of staff are supportive of the university’s vision to make Dundee as inspiring, robust and efficient an institution as it can be.”

He continued: “The university currently has a generous voluntary severance scheme open to academic staff, with the aim of reducing our academic staff numbers by 80 to 120 posts, and we are continuing to receive applications for that scheme, which still has a further two months to run.

“We would emphasise that the university remains committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies wherever possible.”