By James Lewis, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Staff at the Centre for Academic Language and Development (CALD) have voted to take industrial action in July and August over the University of Bristol’s plans to make 45 staff members redundant.
The centre was established in 1989 to provide English language education to students, ‘whether or not English is their first language,’ to ensure everyone at the university have the level of English needed to complete a degree. They offer an International Foundation Programme (IFP) and pre-sessional courses, while also offering a range of courses to widen participation at the university, which ‘enable more people to access a university education’, according to the University of Bristol’s website.
A University of Bristol spokesperson defended the redundancies, arguing that ‘where we see a pattern of declining or increasing student numbers, we need to adjust our staffing levels and resources accordingly.’
A press release issued by the UCU (University and College Union) on June 26 claims that the planned redundancies ‘rest on projected, not actual, students for the next academic year.’ The statement goes on to say that ‘[the] UCU believes there is no sound operational or financial rationale for the cuts and that the staff are needed at the university.’
The dispute was first raised publicly in an open letter from the UCU, published on March 28, addressed to Vice-Chancellor Evelyn Welch. In this letter, the UCU makes their position clear: ‘[the UCU] don’t believe that these redundancies are justified’. The UCU goes on to make eight requests of the University. These include the freedom to access relevant financial information and asking the university to re-evaluate the rationale used to justify these redundancies. The eight requests also include several instances of the UCU asking the university to lobby the UK government on a number of different issues, including: to make the UK a more attractive choice for international students; to improve the university funding model; and to gain financial assistance from the government to prevent job losses.
In their comment to Epigram, the university said that their decision was not a ‘reflection of the quality of education’ on offer at the CALD, but rather their decision is a response ‘to changing demand’ and is therefore necessary if the IFP is to ‘remain sustainable.’ They added later that the university is in ‘ongoing talks with UCU colleagues and will be working hard to mitigate any impact on [their] students.’
Nick Varney, UCU’s south west Regional Officer, said that the redundancies would be ‘devastating’ for those whose jobs are at risk, and ‘will leave the remaining staff over stretched.’
Mr Varney goes on to urge the university to ‘[take] compulsory redundancies off the table, and [focus] on viable alternatives,’ which he says are a solution to end the dispute. He says that, ‘unless the employer changes direction, the university will face weeks of disruption on campus.’
Staff at the CALD are not alone. According to an email from the UCU, published on July 4, staff at the University of Nottingham, University of Bradford, University of Lincoln, and University of Edinburgh have either recently taken industrial action or voted to take industrial action. In the same email, the UCU notes that Liverpool Hope University and Lancaster University management have announced redundancy plans of their own. On the other hand, the University of Dundee has recently withdrawn redundancy notices to staff after UCU pressure.
Amelia Shaw
If the UCU and university cannot reach an agreement, staff at the CALD will strike for 21 days across July and August, beginning next Wednesday (July 9). This will mark the largest industrial action at the University since the Marking and Assessment Boycott reached its conclusion in September 2023.
Featured image: Epigram archive
