Staff at Brunel University of London have “overwhelmingly” backed industrial action in defence of jobs, becoming the latest in a wave of strike ballots.

Three-quarters of staff (75 per cent) voted in favour of strike action, on a turnout of 61 per cent, according to the University and College Union (UCU). 

Last year the university announced plans to make 135 academic staff redundant. UCU claimed that while 60 have left through a voluntary redundancy scheme, “the rest at risk are left facing compulsory redundancy” including staff in its life sciences department, economics and finance, law and the Brunel Business School.  

The compulsory redundancies are scheduled to take place by 31 March, with the university failing to rule out further job losses, UCU said. They come on top of almost 80 technical and professional staff who are at risk of redundancy.

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The announcement makes the union branch the latest to conduct a successful industrial action ballot, after the University of East Anglia, Newcastle University and the University of Dundee,��which have all occurred in recent weeks.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said that union members have backed strike action over the university job cuts because “they refuse to allow their colleagues to pay the price for management’s financial failures”. 

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“Any cuts will not only impact staff and students but also the local community, as the university is vital for widening participation within the local area and has high numbers of mature students. The employer must start listening to their staff and work with us to avoid compulsory redundancies or face disruption on campus,” she said.

Andrew Jones, Brunel’s vice-chancellor, said: “Like many other universities, we’ve had to balance rising costs with a shortfall in income driven by the sector-wide decline in international student enrolments, and we’re implementing a range of cost-saving measures to ensure we can focus on work that brings the greatest benefit to our students and to society.

“We know that these changes are having an unsettling effect on our community, and we’ll continue to work constructively with our unions to support our colleagues through this difficult time.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com