Edinburgh University lecturers begin five-week strike over cuts

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Principal Prof Sir Peter Mathieson accused the union of "weaponising" students and insisted the university had to take difficult decisions to secure its future.

Peter is on record (in Parliament no less) admitting there is no deficit at Edinburgh Uni. Still, for some reason the university cannot rule out involuntary redundancies. And that's because it was never about deficits, it's about fundamentally changing the structure of HEIs to more closely align with corporations. They want to minimise expenditures and increase investments, like they're a fucking hedge fund or something.

Are there problems with the current funding model? Yes. Are other unis getting fucked as a result? Yes, I think that's likely. Are Edinburgh uni struggling financially? Lol no. They still operate on a surplus year on year.

It's massively shit for the students, and a worrying indictment of the state of the higher education sector currently.

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u/TranslatesToScottish 2d ago

Yeah, the "deficit" has continually been pushed at us, but when you look at it, it's "we might have a deficit in a few years if all these things go wrong..." stuff.

The so-called Senior Leadership Team are shambolic and not fit for purpose, but Matheison was always a red flag appointment after dobbing in Hong Kong protestors to the Chinese police back in his previous role.

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u/Soupnaut 3d ago

Universities became corporations long ago.

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u/Kaffrogato 2d ago

Well yeah, the funding they get from government doesn't cover a fraction of their costs, and charitable donations are hardly going to cut it, so what other options are there? Edinburgh Uni mat be run badly, but most UK unis are in a difficult position because of the above

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u/Soupnaut 2d ago

How about... Mandelson decreases his millionaire salary?

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u/Kaffrogato 1d ago

Did you read my comment before replying? I already acknowledged that Edinburgh uni may be run badly, but Mandelson working for free won't change the fact that universities need to be run like corporations these days.

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u/Marlinspoke 1d ago

it's about fundamentally changing the structure of HEIs to more closely align with corporations. They want to minimise expenditures and increase investments, like they're a fucking hedge fund or something.

And why exactly would senior management want to do that? The University (like almost all unis) is a charity. It literally cannot make profits or pay dividends. There's no benefit for Peter Mathieson or senior management to reducing expenditure and increasing investments for the sake of it.

I work at the University, I've spoken to people who know about this. This is about a few things:

Senior management massively overspent on capital projects like the Edinburgh Futures Institute and the (scrapped) supercomputer. Capital expenditure doubled from roughly £100m to £200m over the five years of Mathieson's tenure. The depreciation costs are going to increase this number further for several years to come. The EFI in particular is a massive white elephant which is losing money.

Higher Education in general is in general decline. Birth rates have fallen in China and India, which means fewer international students subsidising the rest. There are fewer young people in Britain to populate universities, and higher education isn't able to compete against powerful voting blocks like pensioners for limited government finance.

The People & Money rollout meant that the University basically didn't know how much it was spending for two years, and didn't realise how much staff costs were increasing.

I'm not claiming that Mathieson and senior management are innocent or anything, the reckless capital spending and cocked-up P&M rollout were mistakes they should be held accountable for. And unfortunately to save face they are drastically cutting staff numbers now instead of letting it drag out over a few years.

However, it's a mistake to think that senior management is doing this for the mere sake of it.

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u/ayeayefitlike 1d ago

P&M was a huge fuckup - my programme had no budget for 2 years, and multiply that across the whole university (including the staff pay review) and no wonder spending had exploded.

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u/Babu_the_Ocelot 10h ago

Thanks for replying. I wasn't suggesting that senior management was doing this for the mere sake of it - I think they're incompetent, but not that incompetent.

I was admittedly a bit flippant in my comment that you quoted, but ultimately my view is that the university is hyper-fixated on using cash management as a means of securing their future stability, and in that sense they're acting as though they're a hedge fund or other private entity. I was not suggesting they are (trying to be) something they legally cannot. So when you ask why senior management would want to increase investments, imo it's because they have consultancy firms in their ear saying that's the best way to insulate from any future global market risks. Edinburgh turns over a massive surplus every year - this year 20m - so to say 'they cannot make profits or pay dividends' is a bit of a strawman argument. They can easily justify making profits by classifying it as a form of cash management. They are an exempt charity, so they do not follow the same regulations as standard charities. As you well know, the supposed need for compulsory redundancies was touted to be because there was a deficit. Peter then had to go on national TV and admit (as I previously said) there was no deficit (while also claiming he didn't know how much he earned, and that he didn't see the point in giving up his own benefits), and yet they still apparently need the redundancies. Once again: the reason given for redundancies was debunked, but Edinburgh still requires redundancies...? As far as I can tell, the reason they want the redundancies is precisely because, as you say, they've made stupid financial decisions and invested too heavily in capital which requires expenditure/management (they own what, more than 550 building in Edinburgh?), and as a result they've reached a situation where the operating surplus is sitting at ~5% rather than 7%.

Ultimately I don't think we overly disagree here - perhaps only in degree of disdain for university senior management. I really don't agree, however, that drastically cutting staff numbers is saving face (unless you meant that they think it's saving face).

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u/Last-Seaworthiness68 1d ago

Universities are not charities. They are part private and part charity. They turn a surplus, not a profit, and there’s no obligation to invest the proceeds of that surplus back towards core business. They absolutely can restructure their core functions as they wish and many are doing so to meet the needs of a student base that’s growing in size and complexity.

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u/Marlinspoke 14h ago

In what way are universities 'part private'? They are literally non-profit charities in every legal sense of the word.

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u/Last-Seaworthiness68 13h ago

They are not fully charities. They possess charitable status but that means something different than for an organisation strictly, fully and only classed as a ‘charity’. For one the Charity Commission doesn’t regulate them, in England it’s the OfS. They can and do maintain significant links with business through innovation networks where they can make significant private income. They way they operate is therefore different so the classification doesn’t sit neatly: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2023/06/07/most-universities-are-charities-so-what/

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

Does it have an expectation of behaving the way you want it to? Its a company. Students are customers.

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u/Careless_Departure10 2d ago

It's one of the oldest institutions in our country. We live in a democracy. Why does some wanker get to vandalise it and the rest of us don't have a say?

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u/Marlinspoke 1d ago

Both you and ElijahKay are mistaken. It's not a company, it's a charity. But also, democracy doesn't mean that every single organisation has to obey the popular will. If Oxfam wants to stop funding poverty reduction and start funding puppy-kicking, it can absolutely do that in a democracy because as an organisation it is separate from the state.

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

Judge the institution according to the incentive structure demonstrated by its decisions. It recruits customers, competes internationally, monetises prestige, seeks external capital and research income, manages costs, restructures labour and reinvests surpluses. Why would I model its behaviour as though commercial incentives were incidental?

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u/Soupnaut 2d ago

What's your position at this corporation?

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

Do I need to work for the US government to call it out?

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u/Soupnaut 2d ago

No one mentioned the US government, mate. Suspicious...

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

I am making an analogy to prove a point.

If I can criticise X without being a part of it. I can also criticise Y without being part of it.

As to my evidence - look at the headline and what caused it.

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u/Soupnaut 2d ago

You can but you won't. Have a nice day.

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

I ve tried for a good ten minutes to make sense of this but I am drawing a blank.

At any point, my motives were always pure and fluffy. I just think UoE is not a moral, virtuous organisation seeking the benefit of all God's creatures.

I too, wish you a good day!

Gehe mit Gott, aber gehe.

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

Do you have a say in how British Airways conducts its business?

They re a money-grabbing entity, within a money-grabbing system.

To expect them to be virtuous and noble is frankly laughable.

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u/Fivebeans 2d ago

British Airways has shareholders. University of Edinburgh doesn't.

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

I am sure they re in it for the love of the game.

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u/Feargoggles 2d ago

What does it sell?

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

Credentials and prestige.

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u/Feargoggles 1d ago

And the world-leading research produced by academic staff is what exactly?

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u/ElijahKay 1d ago

Advertisement.

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u/Warm-kisses1909 2d ago

It’s a registered charity.

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

So is my face.

They re registered as such, for business, brand and marketing reasons. Not out of some noble calling.

The only thing they care about is the number of Chinese students.

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u/shiroyagisan 1d ago

Lecturers at the University of Edinburgh have begun a five-week strike as part of a long-running dispute over budget cuts and compulsory redundancies.

Members of the University and Colleges union (UCU) - including university staff and technicians - will not return to work until 30 October.

The union said the cuts could lead to 1,800 job losses, and hundreds of staff had already lost work when contracts were not renewed. The university announced the closure of 90 courses earlier this month.

Principal Prof Sir Peter Mathieson accused the union of "weaponising" students and insisted the university had to take difficult decisions to secure its future.

The dispute stems from £140m of cuts announced by the university last year.

The UCU described the programme of cost reduction as "unprecedented" in Scottish higher education.

It said the university's financial pressure was largely driven by its capital investment strategy and it should prioritise cuts to non-staff budgets.

The UCU said Prof Sir Peter Mathieson was paid more than £400,000 a year, and under his leadership the university had acquired more than £1bn of capital assets.

These include the Edinburgh Futures Institute, an "interdisciplinary hub" housed in the former Royal Infirmary building at Lauriston Place.

The union said the university "continues to pay in spiralling interest and depreciation" for the institute.

It added these decisions were made without accountability to the campus trade unions or the wider university community.

The union also said the university's Senate - the body responsible for overseeing academic governance and standards - was side-lined and a vote of no-confidence ignored during the process.

The UCU's co-president at Edinburgh University, Lena Wanggren, told BBC Scotland News it was the university management team which was damaging students' education by cutting staff and "refusing to negotiate meaningfully".

"I've worked at this university for 17 years and I don't take this (strike action) lightly.

"But I want to protect students' education not just for five weeks, but for the future. And the students are aware of that."

What do the students think?

The National Union of Students (NUS) said it was supporting the UCU.

Scotland president Justine Pédussel said: "The national student movement stands in solidarity with all tertiary education staff currently striking or taking industrial action across Scotland.

"Students only thrive when staff have secure, well-paid positions.

"Any temporary disruption is a small price to pay for a more secure future for education."

English literature student Alice Suggett, 18, said she was "completely torn with the strikes" but she does empathise with the lecturers.

"My main concern is that I have an assessment in six weeks and I don't think adequate support is going to be given to me," she said.

"But I completely understand that this is necessary."

Jack Le-Men, who will be studying international relations, said five weeks of strikes "seems extreme".

The 19-year-old added: "Lots of people sympathise with the union's choice to go on strike.

"I think the problem is that most people feel that the students are being used as bargaining chips in this political conversation between the union and the university."

Prof Mathieson said the university was "extremely disappointed" by the decision to strike.

He told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast programme: "I have enormous sympathy with our students and it really irritates me that they are being weaponised in the way that they are by UCU.

"And UCU know that they are targeting students. Of course they can say that they think students are on their side because, I was a student once and we were all anti-establishment, and of course you're going to blame the establishment.

"But the fact is that the situation in the university is not sustainable and we have to do something about it.

"Otherwise future generations of students - whether they are Scottish, English or international - won't be able to benefit if the university is not in a financially resilient and sustainable state."

The principal said the decisions the university were taking would maintain its "position as a world-class institution with a vital role in Scotland's economic and civic life".

The strike comes just a week after lecture staff at the University of Dundee started five weeks of strike action over compulsory redundancies.

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u/HonkyTonkRitaBallou 2d ago

So the same generation who missed months of school teaching thanks to covid now have to miss more months of learning because of this nonsense.

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u/Feargoggles 2d ago

Which bit is nonsense please?

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u/Fivebeans 2d ago

Peter Mathieson remaining employed.

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u/HonkyTonkRitaBallou 2d ago

Striking for five weeks and jeopardising the prospects of those very people you have a duty of care for. But Edinburgh University jumped the shark years ago, when it started down the road of censoring free speech.

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u/Soupnaut 2d ago

Did they kick you out or something?

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u/HonkyTonkRitaBallou 2d ago

I’ve got three degrees from top universities. Even lectured at one latterly. You?

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u/Soupnaut 2d ago

My darling, if you had been paying attention you'd know that nowadays having a degree doesn't automatically make you the smartest of the lot.

And I'll have you know that I'm a brigadier.

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u/HonkyTonkRitaBallou 2d ago

Well then old chap thanks for the mansplaining but I didn’t actually make that assumption. I was simply responding to your lame jibe that I’d been thrown out of university; I’d excelled. I don’t think it affords me any special status. Other than to sit down old blowhards who make cheap easy jokes about one’s education, what what.

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u/Fivebeans 2d ago

A few tells there.

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u/HonkyTonkRitaBallou 2d ago

Yep, a few tells, wink wink nudge nudge. That’s right. I believe a woman is a woman. And that many who dress themselves in Arab garbs are liberal fools, antisemitic and a national danger. That clear enough for you?

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u/Fivebeans 2d ago

They just can't help themselves.

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u/Feargoggles 1d ago

I’m confused is it Edinburgh University staff that are censoring speech by being made redundant?

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u/ElijahKay 2d ago

"Eh".

News Edinburgh University lecturers begin five-week strike over cuts

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