Union beats back Goldsmiths job cuts ending long-running dispute
A union has confirmed that no staff at Goldsmiths, University of London, will face compulsory redundancy in the next academic year, in an agreement that ends a long-running dispute over job cuts.
The agreement between Goldsmiths and the University College Union (UCU) guarantees that the 14 remaining staff currently at risk of redundancy will keep their jobs and no staff will be made compulsorily redundant during the 2024/25 academic year.
It brings an end to the marking and assessment boycott and means staff will no longer begin indefinite strike action next month.
Goldsmiths announced plans to cut 130 jobs – 17 per cent of the 769 academic roles at the university – in March as part of its efforts to save £20million due to a financial shortfall from falling student numbers.
A Goldsmiths spokesman said: “We have been forced to take steps to put our finances on a sustainable footing. The primary aim of our curriculum review has been to improve the overall student experience at Goldsmiths.”
The redundancies affected staff across 10 departments including English and creative writing, history, music, politics and international relations and theatre and performance.
The UCU campaign aimed to halt all compulsory redundancies that management originally proposed.
While it was able to beat back the compulsory redundancies, the union claims that Goldsmiths management has already “pressured” 62 members to accept a redundancy agreement, and 17 members to accept overflow roles on “worse conditions”.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Many dedicated staff have been pressured to leave Goldsmiths under management’s disastrous transformation programme, and the full impact of their loss will only be understood in the coming academic year.
“Nevertheless, by taking sustained industrial action our members have not only protected many more jobs, as well as courses, they have also saved an institution that was in danger of burning down its own house. This hard-won agreement is a testament to their strength.”
The agreement comes one week after UCU, represented by law firm Leigh Day, wrote to the university ahead of launching a legal claim over the redundancies and module cancellations.
The letter stated that the actions would amount to a “breach of contract” by the university, as well as a breach of the rights of students as consumers.
Students said it was not made clear when they signed their student contracts – which are entered into when a student accepts an offer at a university – that modules would be removed before their course ended and staff members would no longer be available.
More than 400 students were part of the action, all on courses across the 10 departments that were under threat.
A spokesman from Goldsmiths said: “We were obviously aware of the potential impact that changes might have on students and have borne this in mind throughout the process.
“We are confident that our actions comply with both our policies and processes, as well as all legal and regulatory requirements.
“We consulted with staff over our plans and reached an agreement with Goldsmiths UCU.”
Pictured top: Goldsmiths UCU members at a picket line earlier this year (Picture: Goldsmiths UCU)