University staff walk out over cuts to 400 jobs

About 50 people joined a picket line at the University of Essex in protest against cuts to 400 full-time jobs.

The union, Unison, said admissions advisors, IT technicians, admin workers and other staff walked out of the Colchester campus for the one-day strike on Monday.

In December, the university announced it would be axing the jobs over the following two years.

A university spokesperson said it had "engaged fully with union leaders" since December and their feedback had "helped shape our decisions".

Some staff staged their walkout for the entire day, which included waving placards on the picket line on Wivenhoe Road between 08:00 and 11:00 BST.

Ryan McCready, who is Unison's branch secretary, said it was the first strike day he was aware of at the university for 13 years.

Two hundred professional service roles are expected to be affected this academic year.

McCready, who works as a senior international admissions advisor at the university, said he and colleagues "help keep the place functioning" and were "not being treated with dignity".

"We have been pushed into this position from years of not being listened to and I think there was a sense of relief on that picket line that there were so many people willing to stand next to each other and say 'you're not alone'," he said.

"We don't want to be there - we just want to be doing our jobs."

The university has talked about the "significant financial challenges" facing the higher education sector.

As of last year, international student numbers had fallen by 52% since 2021-22. As part of the cuts, the institution closed its Southend-on-Sea campus on 31 July, which included facilities for the East 15 acting school.

A spokesperson for the University said it was "committed to making sure any industrial action affects our students as little as possible".

"The closure of our Southend campus this summer and reduction in staffing over the past year to match our current student numbers have involved difficult choices, and we recognise the impact this process has had on colleagues," they said.

"The actions we have taken are designed to put Essex on a sustainable footing and protect its future for our students, staff and wider community."

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