Created on: 23 Jul 2025
Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland University Lecturers Association (EIS-ULA) have delivered a strong mandate for strike action at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) in response to the university’s proposed redundancies.
Over 94% of members who participated in the ballot supported taking industrial action, signaling their deep-seated opposition to the university’s proposals.
UWS is seeking 75.2 FTE redundancies relating to academic and academic related staff, which the EIS believe will have an adverse impact on the quality of education students would receive. The staff cuts would also place additional burdens on an already stretched workforce at UWS.
The EIS lodged a dispute in March in response to the proposed redundancies, but a lack of meaningful consultation discussion resulted in a ballot for strike action being opened last month. The EIS has formally complained to the university that it has not shared sufficient information and that the university identified redundancy pools without the pre-requisite initial consultation on avoiding redundancies.
Commenting on the ballot results, the EIS National Officer for Higher Education, Garry Ross stated, “With over 94% of those who voted electing to take strike action, this sends a loud and clear message to management at UWS that staff will fight against these proposed redundancies. Our members are hard-working, dedicated professionals who are not only concerned for the job losses that the university are set on making, but the impact the removal of these posts will have on the number of courses being made available at the university and the quality of the learning and teaching that students will receive in future at UWS.”
He added, “Now is the time for management at UWS to hold constructive talks with the EIS and remove their redundancy plans, avoiding the need for their staff to take industrial action to save their jobs."
The EIS urges UWS management to reconsider their redundancy plans and engage in meaningful talks to find an alternative solution that projects jobs and maintains the university’s academic capacity. The union remains open to constructive talks and is seeking to avert taking disruptive strike action, but its members are prepared to defend their livelihoods and the quality of education at UWS.
The EIS supports the Scottish Government’s intervention at the University of Dundee and its call on the university not to make compulsory redundancies. The EIS believes that academics at Robert Gordon University and the University of the West of Scotland also deserve similar government support in avoiding compulsory redundancies.