Students back lecturers at cut-threatened Leeds University

STUDENTS have shown their support for lecturers and a possible strike at a Yorkshire university threatened with major cuts after a controversial campaign was mounted by the students' union opposing industrial action.

A protest was held yesterday on the Parkinson's Steps at Leeds University organised by students objecting to both the threat of staff job losses and Leeds University Union's decision to oppose lecturers going on strike.

The University and College Union is balloting members at the University on a strike in a dispute over planned job cuts and the threat of compulsory redundancies.

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However the LUU has launched a campaign called Education First asking students to write to their lecturers to urge them to vote no to industrial action.

Leeds University has announced up to 60 jobs could be lost from its Biological Sciences Department, and is carrying out a review aimed at making savings of 35m across the institution from 2011 to deal with cuts in Government funding.

Staff and students joined forces yesterday to mount their protest.

Nick Jones of the campaign group Leeds University Against the Cuts said: "I don't think the Leeds University Union is representing the views of most students. Encouraging students to pester lecturers and pitching students against lecturers is not the right path to go down."

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Nobody from the LUU was available for comment yesterday. However spokesman Jak Codd has previously told the Yorkshire Post the

students' union was opposing the strike because

the UCU could not guarantee that the action would not harm students' education.

A spokesman for the UCU said: "We are aware of the Leeds University Union's Education First campaign and we think yesterday's protest was a response to that. It was organised by students showing their solidarity."

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