Lecturers vote for strike in university jobs clash

The University and College Union has announced 64 per cent of staff at Leeds University who took part in a ballot supported strike action while 78 per cent backed action short of a strike. Two thirds of the UCU's members at the university took part in the vote, the highest turnout the union has ever seen.

The row revolves around cost-cutting plans at Leeds University which the union fears could lead to major job losses.

Leeds University has announced up to 60 jobs could be lost from its Biological Sciences Department, and is carrying out a separate review aimed at making savings of 35m across the institution from 2011, which the union fears could lead to up to 700 job losses.

The UCU is calling on the university to rule out compulsory redundancies.

The conciliation service ACAS has been called in to broker talks between university and union. The UCU said yesterday it will consult with members on what type of action to take if the latest negotiations are unsuccessful.

The Leeds branch UCU president, Prof Malcolm Povey, said: "Members have delivered a clear mandate for industrial action at Leeds University.

"We thank our members for participating in such large numbers and reiterate our belief that a negotiated settlement is still possible if the vice chancellor will, at last, recognise the strength of feeling among his workforce. Our priority remains to defend our members and the quality of education experienced by our students."

UCU's general secretary Sally Hunt said: "The university should be working with us to oppose the Government's savage cuts to higher education and must immediately put plans to axe 700 jobs on hold."

Leeds University launched its Economies Exercise last year to find savings of 35m to cope with a shortfall it expects to face from 2011 because of cuts in funding.

A spokeswoman said: "We share the concerns of our staff about the potential effects of public expenditure cuts on the University and indeed across higher education, and understand people are worried about their future.

"We have had more than a dozen meetings with UCU in the last month, including formal discussions through ACAS and we have made a series of proposals on how we can work with the union to mitigate the effects of cuts on staff and the University. We look forward to receiving any proposals that UCU has to make.

"Industrial action, unfortunately, is not going to make the problem go away."