Lecturers' union warns of national strike

Lecturers have warned they may strike over at least 14,000 job losses at universities across the country. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the lecturers' trade union – the University and College Union (UCU) – said if discussions about redundancies broke down between academics and their employers, there could be a national strike. She did not predict when this could be. Universities are grappling with cuts of £1.2bn between now and 2013. She told the BBC that every day, lecturers were reporting new redundancies at universities. "We are getting almost daily reports of redundancies from our officials and there's a point in time when you can't actually carry on without a backlash," she said. "We are in talks with the higher education employers and have been for the last two years, requesting and negotiating for a job security agreement. We have got to get some parameters between the universities and unions negotiating these cuts." There have been more than 15 strikes at individual universities since March. Hunt said: "It's getting to the point where there's a question mark in my mind – how long does this remain a local action? Soon our members will want us to take this to a national level and make a national response too." Earlier, speaking at the UCU annual congress yesterday, Hunt accused the government of promoting "ignorance over education" and preserving university as a privilege for the rich by pursuing swingeing new funding cuts. She said culling another £200m from already stretched higher education budgets proved that education and learning had "gone out of fashion". Universities were told of the extra cuts – which will see the number of additional places available for this autumn halved to 10,000 – last week. They come on top of those announced by the previous government, expected to total around £1bn. Hunt warned that universities and colleges, too often first for the axe because politicians think the public will let them "get away with it", were where doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and architects trained. "What kind of government would want to cut colleges and universities by £1.5bn while proposing to give £8bn of tax giveaways to big business? Let me state for the record, I don't agree with Nick. Or his new best friend, George. Or any other member of this government which has decided to prioritise the rich at the expense of the poor. "This government has an ignorance policy where its education policy should be." Hunt warned Liberal Democrat MPs against reneging on their promise to vote against a rise in tuition fees, if such a move is recommended by an independent review of fees led by former BP boss Lord Browne. Under the new coalition agreement, Lib Dems can abstain from voting on the issue. "Politicians who campaigned on an anti-fees ticket, and then choose to abstain on any vote in the House, will never be trusted again," she said. On Sunday, UCU delegates voted overwhelmingly to reject proposed changes to their pension scheme, amid concerns they could lose thousands of pounds. The universities minister, David Willetts, said: "The public finances are in such a mess that there are some very tough choices to be made. But young people have been the biggest victims of the recession and we will work hard to give them more support. "That is why we have already announced 10,000 extra university places and why we are refocusing £200m on delivering more apprenticeships and improving college buildings." Jocelyn Prudence, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (Ucea) said: "With over £1billion of cuts to the sector in England alone this year, universities and colleges are faced with difficult decisions. "It is disappointing to see UCU only two months after the release of the jointly agreed Acas digest on job security, raising the possibility of national industrial action. "These matters are being fully discussed at the particular independent universities or colleges facing these challenges."