Strikes at Edinburgh University next week

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION (UCU) SCOTLAND

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday 25 March 2026

for immediate release

Strikes at Edinburgh University next week

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) Scotland at the University of Edinburgh will take strike action next week in a long running dispute over £140million cuts and up to 1,800 job losses.

All UCU members at the university will be on strike for two days on Monday 30 March and Wednesday 1 April, with some members striking during the rest of the week if they have teaching or administrative duties.  The union will be holding a rally at 12noon on Wednesday 1 April at Bristo Square.

The strikes follow on from nine days of strike action taken last year.  In December last year a short-term deal was struck where management agreed to guarantee there would be no compulsory redundancies to the end of July 2026 and to commit to meaningful consultation.  However, members of the union at the university decided that management had breached the agreement by not engaging meaningfully, including barring the union from key meetings and not sharing necessary financial information.

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.

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.”

ends 

note

Picket lines will be on, and spokespeople will be available for interview, at the following times and locations:
30 March, 9:00am to 12 noon, various George Square locations, Old College and Teviot Place, and King’s Buildings.

31 March, 9:00am to 12 noon, King’s Buildings.

1 April, 9:00am to 11:00am, various George Square locations, Old College and Teviot Place, and King’s Buildings.

2 April, 9:00am to 12 noon, 50 George Square.

3 April, 9:00am to 12 noon, Old Medical School, Teviot Place.

contact

UCU Scotland: Murdo Mathison m: 07967 503909 e: mmathison@ucu.org.uk

UCU Edinburgh: Sophia Woodman: e: ucu.president@ed.ac.uk