The University of Leeds has proposed cutting up to 700 jobs, according to the University and College Union. This is part of the university’s attempt to cut its annual budget by £35 million. The Vice Chancellor, Michael Arthur, has engineered these cuts, and the student union refuses to oppose them. Leeds University is just one of dozens of higher education institutes that will be crippled by a reduction in funding. These attacks on jobs and education are the most severe since the Thatcher years and must be resisted.
The University of Leeds announced on the 8th October that it needs to cut its annual budget by approximately £35 million between 2010-11, in ‘anticipation’ of cuts in higher education funding from the government in the future. This could translate into as many as 700 jobs, in addition to the 60 jobs in the Faculty of Biological Sciences and 40 jobs in the School of Healthcare which are already at risk. Schools are being asked to draw up a new annual budget with savings of 10%, according to the University and College Union (UCU).
Job cuts are justified on the basis of the need to save money. However, the university can afford to pay £9.7m for a new swimming pool, and £244,000 in 2008 to the Vice Chancellor. Needless to say, he is not facing a pay cut, although he has kindly accepted a pay freeze; however, last year he accepted a pay rise of 8%.
On October 8th, a rally in opposition to job cuts was held outside the Edward Boyle library. This was attended by over 200 staff and students, as well staff from the College of Art and Leeds StreetScene (refuse collectors and street cleaners who were on strike). Union members burned redundancy warning letters, with applause from the crowd. Representatives of the main trade unions on campus were present, including Unison, Unite, and UCU. However, one union was conspicuous in its absence; the National Union of Students (NUS).
Leeds University Union
The NUS claims to “represent the interests of more than seven million students” and to “fight barriers to education”. Despite this, there was no Leeds University Union (LUU) presence at the demonstration. This is despite the fact that such deep job cuts will mean larger classes.
The LUU has released a statement about the cuts. There is no mention of opposition; so far the LUU has not made a single statement condemning the measures. The LUU Education Officer said: “We have met with the University a number of times in the past week to discuss this issue and to ask for assurances that students and the student experience will not be negatively affected by spending cuts.”
No mention of any opposition to the cuts, then! The right-wing student union is essentially acting as an arm of the university management, and is currently engaged in a campaign to avert strike action at the university.
Support strike action at the University of Leeds
UCU is currently balloting staff to take strike action, between the 11th January and 3rd February 2010. Unsurprisingly the student union is condemning the strike, stating on their website that “strikes will have a negative effect on you and will unfairly make students the losers in this dispute”. The lies coming out of the Students’ Union are unbelievable; they condemn strike action on the basis that it will be detrimental to education, yet they endorse a budget cut of £35 million! This is more than just a lie, it is an insult to the intelligence of the students.
If Leeds University Union thinks that they can get away with misrepresenting student’s interests, they can think again. Students, lecturers and the campus unions have organised to fight back against the university management and the right-wing LUU, and have already organised several noisy rallies and marches. It is expected that staff will agree to take industrial action in February, and this must be supported; the lies of the LUU must be exposed. The student union is subject to the right-of-recall; if enough signatures are acquired, there can be a re-election, and the worst offending careerists can be removed. The first step towards resisting the cuts is in establishing a student union that is representative of student interests.
The University’s budget disaster
In addition to the proposed redundancies, the Vice Chancellor announced on the 21st October that the university had overestimated its budget by £20 million. This error occurred in the summer of 2008, due to a number of human errors during the budgetary calculation process. This is having a serious impact on the university’s five-year finance plans. UCU suggests that staff are going to be made redundant to pay for the errors of someone who is “paid well enough to know better”.
Although the university hasn’t lost any money as a result of this, it now has a much smaller surplus than expected. This means that the university will have less money to spend, meaning further job cuts and losses.
Socialist Appeal demands:
- An end to job cuts at Leeds University. Fewer lecturers means that class sizes are larger, which negatively affects education standards. The university is believed to have savings of millions of pounds, which should be used to prevent job losses.
- No job salary cuts for the lowest paid staff. Where salaries have to be cut, it should start (and end) at the top. Those being paid six-figure salaries should take the cuts if they are so keen on them, starting with the Vice Chancellor.
- For Leeds University Union to take a leading role in fighting job cuts. The union’s role is to act in the interest of the students it represents. This should involve opposition to moves that impact on education standards. Careerists in the union that refuse to represent student interests must be recalled.
- Support strike action at the university. The lecturers and staff at the university must be supported if they choose to take industrial action. The impact of a strike on education is nothing compared to the damage that will be done if the university management gets its way.
- New Labour must end its attacks on education. Labour should be opposing cuts in such important sectors in education. Education is vital; after all, the students of today are the workers of tomorrow.
