Lecturers to strike in dispute over job losses

Published on Wednesday 20 April 2011 20:51

LECTURERS are to strike next week at Stirling University in a row over job losses.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will take the action on Tuesday outside the campus's main entrance.

Picket lines will be manned from 8am at the university gate off the A9, and a general meeting will take place later in the morning.

Students are expected to show their support by joining lecturers in a march from the rural campus to the town centre, followed by a rally.

A hustings with the Scottish parliamentary election candidates for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane will follow.

The move comes after two-thirds of members who voted supported strike action, after staff in the institute of aquaculture were given compulsory redundancy notices.

UCU has accused management of failing to consult properly with the union.

The union believes the institute of aquaculture is being targeted because it does not provide a surplus on the university's internal budgetary process.

Mary Senior, UCU Scottish official, said: "Tuesday's strike should act as wake-up call to the university.

"Their argument for making these cuts simply doesn't add up and will deprive the Scottish fish farming industry of a vitally important institute.

"The university risks doing lasting damage to the institution's academic reputation."