Manchester uni unions ready for jobs fight

Manchester university unions ready for jobs fight

UCU, Unison and Unite at the University of Manchester (UoM) are all currently preparing to fight after 300+ attended a joint union meeting to discuss threats to jobs.

As one of the city’s biggest employers, UoM has traditionally had relatively progressive policies on avoiding compulsory redundancies through redeployment and other measures. These are now being torn up without consultation in what is a de facto derecognition of the trade unions, cynically making use of the summer break to start the process.

The initial priority is to defend the 37 members of staff being taken off the redeployment register and threatened with redundancy, as well as 219 IT staff at risk due to proposed outsourcing. Other major reorganisations are on the horizon and the pattern is clear: loss of jobs, privatisation and more work for those who remain.

In the current consultative survey and when a formal ballot is called, union members should vote yes to action ‘short of a strike’ and yes to strike action. Only a programme of escalating industrial action can defeat these attacks. It will also be important to link up with the students’ union and provide a wider challenge to the Tory austerity policies that are driving cuts and marketisation in the sector.

UCU members at UoM