22 October 2026
Despite more than 18 months of talks between the UCU and the University of Edinburgh, in which the union has proactively sought a resolution to our dispute, almost zero 'negotiation' has occurred. While management has continued to meet with us, they have failed to bring to the table any serious proposals, whereas we have consistently done so - our meetings have so far been a one-way 'dialogue'.
Following our branch General Meeting on 14 October 2026, in which members reaffirmed their wish for the branch to continue attempting dispute resolution talks with management, UCU Edinburgh negotiators have therefore asked UCU Scotland officers to contact ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) on our branch's behalf, to request action.
Why we have approached ACAS
ACAS is a government-funded public body that operates independently to provide impartial dispute resolution support to employers and trade unions when negotiations have stalled, usually in the form of 'collective conciliation'. ACAS cannot force University of Edinburgh to do anything, but it can invite parties to mediation sessions to progress dispute resolution and negotiation.
In line with our Terms of Dispute, we have consistently asked for clear and accurate information about how much the University has saved so far from the non-staff budget, how much they have saved from the staff budget (via sometimes not-so-voluntary severance or redundancy schemes, cuts to hourly paid staff, non-renewal of fixed-term contracts), what numerical figure of FTE redundancies they are aiming for overall, how they are assessing workload impact, how long the cuts will continue, when the cost-cutting programme will stop, and more.
Management has consistently refused to answer our reasonable questions. Yet we have also consistently presented management with alternative ways forward. To name just a few examples among many, we have suggested that they:
Sell some buildings;
Keep EBITDA surplus targets at sufficient, responsible levels – this is supported by the University’s Chief Financial Officer, and Court recommends a target of 7-9%, yet management insists it should aim for 9-11%; this appears to us to be a crude, cynical mechanism to artificially justify unnecessary capital expenditures and staff cuts, as our Joint Unions Finance Working Group laid out in detail in February 2025 and January 2026;
Stop hidden redundancies by implementing – among other things – their OWN recommendations for retaining staff on precarious contracts; ‘Researcher Pools’ is one example, proposed by a University working group in August 2024, whereby grant funding could be pooled within institutes or research groups to retain a permanent staff of academic researchers, rather than a revolving door of fixed-term hires.
Our suggestions have been consistently ignored, dismissed, or rejected.
Current state of play
On 23 September 2026 – before our current strike – the University’s HR Director James Saville summarised management's continued position: "I’m afraid that we have reluctantly concluded that we can make no further offer to UCU at the moment. We remain too far apart on core elements of your demands, notably your continued insistence on no compulsory redundancies."
UCU Scotland official Mike Williamson immediately replied: "That is a very disappointing response and our members will no doubt be angry to hear that their employer has been unwilling to move at all to avoid this period of industrial action. As was made clear on Monday [21 Sept.] whilst a guarantee on compulsory redundancies will be necessary to resolve the dispute, we believe there was plenty of ground short of that which could have avoided this particular set of strikes. The university has had plenty of time to consider this over the summer."
There has been no movement since then. UCU Edinburgh has therefore sought external support to bring management back to the table in the hope of resuming good faith negotiations to resolve our dispute.
On Monday 19 October, UCU Scotland officers met with ACAS. The branch will update members as soon as we hear more.
