Lecturers strike over job losses

Hundreds of university lecturers are to hold a one-day strike in protest at plans for compulsory redundancies.

Staff at Sunderland University will take part in a rally on site on Tuesday, after it was announced nine posts were to go.

The Natfhe lecturers' union says redundancies will reduce students' choice of courses.

It is calling for any savings to be made by "natural wastage" over the next few months.

'Bad planning'

Lecturing staff are currently working strictly within the terms of their contracts in protest at the plans.

Jeff Fowler of Sunderland's Natfhe branch said: "These job losses are happening as a result of bad planning by management.

"But it is valued lecturers who are losing their jobs, not the people who made the mistakes."

He added: "Lecturers have worked against the odds to keep standards high and deliver good results for students.

"But university management seems to regard cost-cutting as more important than the quality of educational provision and is determined to push these compulsory redundancies through."

Two-thirds of lecturing staff at Sunderland are members of Natfhe.

A university spokesman said: "We are disappointed that Natfhe has voted in favour of industrial action.

"The measures we are taking are to ensure that we continue to provide a high quality of teaching and research.

"While student numbers are buoyant in the vast majority of subjects the university offers there are a few where demand has been falling for some time - a trend mirrored across the UK."

The spokesman added: "Therefore we must make staff reductions in some of these areas. We have 1,500 staff and need to reduce this complement by approximately three full-time posts.

"We have to make provision for compulsory severance although we continue to seek to achieve these staffing reductions through voluntary measures."

Sunderland University has around 16,000 full- and part-time students.