Edinburgh academics strike over £140m funding cuts
Academics will take to picket lines surrounding the university this morning, and a rally will be held in the city's George Square at 11AM.
The strikes are intended to disrupt the university's annual Open Day, where prospective students and their families will visit the Old College campus.
Additional pickets are set to be carried out between 8-12 September as students return from the summer holidays.
Bosses at the university aim to reduce spending by £140m. (Image: Newsquest) Sophia Woodman, president of the Edinburgh University UCU branch, said: 'Taking strike action is the very last thing UCU members at Edinburgh want to do but the decision of the principal to press ahead with huge cuts and the refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies has simply left us no choice.
'University staff are worried about the future and whether they'll have a job this time next year. We are striking on Open Day to sound the alarm about the future of research and teaching at the university, because we care deeply about the quality of education we provide to our students.
Woodman added: 'Staff are stunned to see university senior management pressing ahead with plans to spend vast sums on public relations consultants and increase spending on buildings while cutting the staff who teach students and carry out world leading research. Even at this late stage it's not too late for the university to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies and end this dispute.'
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University principal Peter Mathieson, who recently told MSPs he was not sure how much money he made, has also come under fire.
Asked by Education Committee convenor Douglas Ross to confirm his salary, Mathieson was unable to do so, quipping: 'I don't carry that figure round in my head. I recognise that I'm very well paid.
'You could pay the senior team of the University of Edinburgh nothing and that would make largely no difference to the size of the expenditure challenge we face.'
UCU General Secretary Jo Grady UCU General Secretary Jo Grady has also hit out at the chief executive, who makes around £418,000 a year.
She said: 'Peter Mathieson has been warned often enough about the impact his cuts will have on staff, students and the university's reputation but the refusal not to rule out compulsory redundancies means that the fault for this strike going ahead lies firmly at his door.'
A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: 'Open Day is a hugely important event in our calendar, and we are delighted to be welcoming thousands of potential students to our campus. Visitors will get a taste of what classes might be like, see accommodation options as well as experiencing the city itself.
"While we respect colleagues' right to take part in industrial action, we are doing our utmost to keep any disruption to a minimum and have endeavoured to keep those planning to attend well informed.'
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