Cardiff University staff will strike next month as they threaten a "summer of chaos" and graduation disruption in protest over cuts. The action by UCU members would start with an all out strike on May 1 with seven further strike days, unless the university withdraws the threat of compulsory redundancies..
The university announced slightly scaled back cuts on April 10 with fewer job losses, after 81 took redundancy, and a plan to keep the nursing school open. The UCU union said that was not enough with 286 jobs still earmarked to go and more than 1,300 staff still with threat of redundancy hanging over them.
The university's UCU branch said members have voted overwhelmingly for strike, or action short of strike, if the university makes any compulsory redundancies. Action would include a marking and assessment boycott and a series of all out strike days in the face of what the union described as "cruel and unnecessary cuts". You can read the university's latest statement on cuts proposals here
In a statutory ballot 83% of Cardiff UCU members’ votes backed strike action, and 86% backed action short of a strike up to and including an assessment boycott, far exceeding the 50% legal threshold needed. The union said this is the biggest mandate in the branch’s history, and said it hoped that "the university’s executive board will meet staff demands before any action begins". For more Cardiff stories, sign up to our newsletter here
The two other campus unions, Unite and Unison have also agreed to instruct their members, mainly professional services support staff, to not cover work for UCU members engaging in industrial action.
The UCU said in a statement: "Members have considered their options and voted for a hard- hitting plan of action beginning with a one-day strike on May 1 . If staff demands are not met by this point this will be followed by an indefinite assessment boycott beginning on May 6 and including seven further strike days in May and June.
"Cardiff University is currently inviting students graduating this summer (‘graduands’) to graduation ceremonies which may be disrupted by the boycott of assessment work. Senior managers have been warned that unless they agree to staff demands “a summer of chaos” will ensue that will add to the damage their controversial cuts plans have already caused."
A spokesperson from the branch said: "Members are reluctant to engage in industrial action because of the impact it has on students. They are even more averse to using the nuclear option’ of an assessment boycott.
"But the scale and depth of the cuts, along with management’s continued refusal to take compulsory redundancies off the table, means that staff feel the university is leaving them no choice but to act."
An assessment boycott, the form of “action short of a strike” would mean staff carrying out most professional duties but refusing to do all, or some, tasks that relate to marking and assessing student work (such as setting exams, marking, and administering assessment for exam boards so that students can progress to the next stage of their studies or, in the case of final year students, graduate at all).
The last time UCU members at Cardiff used this form of industrial action was in 2023, as part of a UK-wide campaign about pay and conditions. Some students were invited by the university to graduate without knowing their degree classifications, or even if they’d passed.
The union refuted the scale of job cuts had been reduced: "81 staff have applied, and been approved, for voluntary redundancy, and numerous others have taken voluntary severance. This means that management are now “proposing to reduce academic FTE numbers by 286”, rather than by 400. It has been widely reported that the University has “revised its job cuts figure from 400 to 286” – this is misleading, because the university has still effectively lost the same number of staff."
Cardiff University UCU branch president Dr Joey Whitfield said: “As university staff our members routinely go above and beyond to give our students the kind of excellent education they deserve. We are incredibly reluctant to take part in any form of industrial action, let alone a marking and assessment boycott, but the university is leaving us no choice after imposing these cruel and unnecessary cuts.
"Our message to the university executive board is clear: there is an alternative to this summer of chaos and there is still plenty of time to avoid this kind of disruption. Our demand is quite modest and reasonable, and we want to negotiate.
"We could be asking for a lot more, but we aren’t. As our independent financial analysis has shown from the start, compulsory redundancies are not needed. As we’ve shown with our detailed and evidence-based set of alternative proposals for improving the university’s finances, there are ways out of this mess which protect the university and do not involve destroying hundreds of our members lives.”
In response to the threat of strike and action short of strike a university spokesperson said: “This is disappointing as industrial action will inevitably cause disruption for some of our students and is due to take place before the final outcome of the consultation is known. We will do everything we can to minimise its impact.
"The university will remain open and in some areas teaching, research and services will be unaffected. We recognise that these are extremely difficult and challenging times.
"However, it is important to stress that our proposals remain subject to an on-going 90-day consultation. They aim to secure the long-term future of the University and we’d urge UCU, and our other campus unions, to continue to work with us.
"Compulsory redundancies will always be the last resort and that we want to continue to work in partnership to avoid them. We would also renew our ask for UCU to provide a copy of their financial report which, so far, has not been received.”
The university is facing a projected £31m+ deficit. Like other universities it says it has been hit by rising costs and falling income. It has blamed the situation on largely static home fees, falling numbers of higher paying international students, partly owing to Visa changes. Rising National Insurance costs have also been cited.
Higher education minister Vikki Howells, along with others, including academics, have said the university should use some of its vast available reserves to cushion the blow. An alternative plan, edited by former education minister Leighton Andrews, suggests the university balances its books by using some reserves as well as making less harsh cuts over a longer period and imposing a recruitment and promotion freeze, among other measures.
The full details of Cardiff UCU’s planned industrial action this summer:
Cardiff UCU has announced the following industrial action this summer:
Get news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. See our Privacy Notice.
Receive the latest news on AI Financial Navigator 4.0