University staff boycott could prevent graduations

University staff have begun a boycott of marking and assessments ahead of manning a picket line for a full strike on Friday in protest over job losses.

The University and College Union (UCU) said its members at the University of Nottingham voted for industrial action over plans to cut 609 of its 7,363 full-time equivalent roles over the next three years.

UCU said the action would "effectively block the university from handing out graduation certificates".

A spokesperson for the university said it was "disappointing" that the industrial action was "being done to create maximum disruption for our students at an already stressful time".

The BBC understands 2,697 staff are now at risk of "potential redundancy", and the university will first be offering voluntary redundancy.

A spokesperson for the university previously said these were "really difficult decisions" that were not taken lightly, but added "doing nothing is not an option".

From Wednesday, staff have begun to boycott all marking and assessment duties, which will continue for the rest of this academic year or until the dispute is resolved.

Staff will also strike on Friday, and be on picket lines from 08:00 BST across the campus.

The UCU said the latest proposals followed 350 staff being made voluntarily redundant over the past year.

It said the university was also trying to offload the £80m Castle Meadow campus it purchased five years ago, which UCU has previously criticised as a vanity project and the cause of the current financial troubles.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "The University of Nottingham is on notice that it needs to rule out compulsory redundancies and work with staff to protect jobs and student provision. If it refuses to do so, our members will boycott all marking, effectively blocking the university from handing out graduation certificates.

"No member of staff wants to take this step, but management is ruining this university, and it must be stopped.

"The financial issues facing the institution are the result of the senior leadership team's mismanagement, and staff and students must not be made to pay the price for its failings."

A spokesperson for the University of Nottingham said: "While we respect our employees' right to take industrial action, the fact this is being done to create maximum disruption for our students at an already stressful time is really disappointing.

"While many of our students will be unaffected by this action, we understand this will cause concern and want to reassure them we have clear procedures and support in place to minimise any disruption.

"These are still proposals which are subject to meaningful consultation with the unions. Nothing will be finalised or implemented until a final business case is approved by council in the autumn."

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