Dave Reid, Socialist Party Wales Secretary
Workers and students have reacted with shock at Cardiff University bosses’ disgraceful announcement of 400 job cuts and course closures. Many staff have been in tears as whole departments that have existed for decades are being closed and others merged.
The £290,000-a-year vice chancellor has defended the swingeing cuts, claiming that the university was losing £30 million a year and is facing an “existential crisis”.
But the University and College Union (UCU) has pointed out that the university has larger financial reserves than most universities – £188 million is available to plug current losses. And incredibly, it is aiming to make between £23 million – £35 million surplus over the next three academic years.
The UCU has condemned the cuts as “cruel and unnecessary”, will fight any compulsory redundancies, and is preparing to ballot for strike action.
These cuts come on top of the increase in tuition fees to £9,535 a year that the Welsh Labour government has said the university can charge students from September 2025, following the policy adopted by the Labour government in England.
Now is an opportunity to unite the struggles of university staff facing job losses and students struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, fee rises and now course closures.
Cardiff Socialist Students is demanding that the students’ union takes an unequivocal stance opposing all job cuts and course closures, and fights alongside the UCU and other campus unions to defend education at the university. Socialist Students has said it will mobilise students to support any industrial action the UCU and other unions take.
400 job losses will be a blow to the Cardiff economy and the loss of the nursing school will hit the NHS in Wales. So the whole trade union movement and local communities must unite behind the workers and students to oppose these cuts. A mass campaign can force the university to back down.
These cuts expose the effects of privatisation, commercialisation and real-term government cuts to university funding. Socialist Students has launched the Funding Not Fees campaign calling for fully funded, free education and is looking to work alongside all those looking to fight to defend our education.
Socialist Party Wales calls for a mass campaign of university workers, students, trade unions and students to demand:
- No job losses, no course closures
- Use available financial reserves to save jobs and courses, and demand sufficient funding from the Labour governments in Cardiff and London
- Show us where the money has gone – open the books to trade union and student inspection
- For student and workers’ democratic control of our universities
- Scrap tuition fees, and introduce living maintenance grants for all
- Make the super-rich pay! Fully fund higher education
