Birmingham uni faces strikes over ethnic minority redundancies

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Staff will meet on September 17 to discuss potential walkouts over plans to make five translation and interpreting staff redundant.

Following a consultation on the university’s sixth redundancy round, a decision was initially due in October, said the UCU.

The university executive, however, sent its recommendations to its council on August 10, but it has not shared them with staff or the UCU, the union added.

General secretary Jo Grady said: “Every member of staff at risk of losing their job is from a migrant or minority ethnic background.

“The university has torn up its own timetable to decide five colleagues’ futures two months early and then told nobody what had been decided.

“After six rounds of redundancies in 14 months, members fear that nobody is safe. Strike action is a last resort, but our members will meet shortly to decide whether to ballot for action.”

UCU points out that this is the fifth round of redundancies in which most of those put at risk are migrants or from ethnic minority backgrounds.

It says the university has refused to release the equality impact assessment to the affected staff or their union.

The UCU Birmingham branch has written an open letter to university management and launched a petition aimed at halting the job cuts.

It is calling for a halt to compulsory redundancies, the release of equality impact assessments to affected staff and the UCU and a meeting between management and the staff to discuss the alternative options that have been put forward.

A university spokeswoman said: “In response to a sustained reduction in demand for these programmes, a proposal to cease provision of specialist postgraduate taught programmes in translation and interpreting has been approved. As a result, a small number of staff are at risk of redundancy.

“The University remains satisfied that it has undertaken a meaningful consultation process and that all representations received have been considered appropriately. Throughout the consultation, our aim has been to treat the people affected by the proposed changes with sensitivity. Information about the University’s Employee Assistance Programme has been made available to them and we are exploring options for tailored outplacement support, if required.

“We remain willing to engage constructively through the normal industrial relations channels should there be matters that BUCU wish to discuss further.”