Staff at Coventry University are threatening to strike after learning that around 100 workers could lose their jobs.
According to the university, the cuts are necessary in order to meet a £90m shortfall because of a decline in international student numbers, as well as rising pension costs and the increases in employer national insurance contributions.
It also plans to transfer some employees to another business within its group, Peoples Futures Limited (PFL), which would mean they leave the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
The University and College Union (UCU) says 300 staff members have been threatened with the sack, with 100 facing job losses and 200 being forced to move to PFL.
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UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the university staff were having to “pay the price for its failures” in a move that was “straight out of the Scrooge playbook”.
The union said its members from the university are expected to meet this week to determine next steps and are likely to start balloting for strike action.
It believes more than 40 jobs would go from its college of arts, with 25 from its school of economics, finance and accounting, and the same number from its school of engineering.
Meanwhile, it estimates that its research centres for business in society and financial and corporate integrity would be combined, resulting in their academic staff numbers being cut by more than half from 53 to 25.
The union predicts employees could go from March 2025, while those being contracted over to PFL could move as early as next month (January).
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Coventry University management bet big on ever increasing international student numbers, but now – in the build up to Christmas – the university has told staff they will have to pay the price for its failures.
‘Attempting to sack staff and shut down access to the industry standard Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is straight out of the Scrooge playbook. Our members at Coventry meet this week to begin their fight back and a strike ballot is now on the cards. They have the full weight of the union behind them so the vice-chancellor must now change course.”
Urging the Labour government to step in, she added that universities being allowed to leave industry standard schemes “by the back door” is doing “irreparable harm to the sector”.
A Coventry University Group spokesperson said: “Most of the Higher Education sector is having to adapt to a new financial reality created by Brexit, a seven-year freeze in UK tuition fees, unsustainable pensions and the devastating impact of the previous government’s policy U-turn on international students, none of which we can control.
“International student recruitment was allowing the sector to balance the books but the changes brought in by the previous government led to a 40% reduction in recruitment across the sector in the last academic year and there are no signs the new government will allow any significant increase.”
The university said student numbers in Coventry had grown over a number of years and it was proud to have created a large number of jobs as a result, but now needed rebalance student-staff ratios in line with current student numbers.
It said it did not want to be in this position and its actions did not reflect “the amazing work of colleagues”.
The spokesperson added: “We have proposed a reduction of 92 FTE academic posts from the three Colleges that sit within Coventry University, and we are now consulting with colleagues before making any final decisions.
“Academic colleagues in the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) are currently entitled to have 28.68% of their salary paid into their pension by the university. This is simply unaffordable so we propose that many of the colleagues affected by this change will now be employed by one of the other companies in our Group and no longer eligible for TPS.”
The university said this was similar to what has been implemented in its professional services departments, which have already moved to its group pension scheme.
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