Union balloting for strike at university

A UNION is balloting its University of Manchester members over strike action.

The University and College Union (UCC) said the university plans to make up to 140 members of staff redundant next September, including professors and lecturers.

A ballot for strike action opened yesterday and will close on October 4.

The university said it was attempting to secure a ‘reduction in posts’ through voluntary means and redeployment, but couldn’t rule out compulsory redundancies.

The UCC’s regional official Martyn Moss claimed the university had cited new government legislation and Brexit as underlying reasons for the cuts. In a statement the university denied Brexit was the reason for the cuts, which it said represented one per cent of its workforce.