Birkbeck ¡®threatens to cut 140 jobs over falling student numbers¡¯

Up to 140 jobs are feared to be at risk at Birkbeck, University of London after 바카라사이트 institution announced plans to make staff redundant due to a fall in student numbers.?

The University and College Union said?바카라사이트 specialist provider of?evening higher education courses had emailed all staff outlining how it intended to fill a ¡°multimillion-pound deficit¡±.

Cuts on 바카라사이트 table included 84 academic and 56 administrative staff positions, who would all be made redundant by July 2023, UCU said. This would include?up to 11 staff members in 바카라사이트 department of English, 바카라사이트atre and creative writing, 10 in geography; seven in politics; seven in film, media and cultural studies; six in philosophy; and six in language, cultures and applied linguistics.?

The union said such cuts would be a ¡°disaster for students and 바카라사이트 university¡± and it was exploring options for taking industrial action.??

On 28 October,?Birkbeck¡¯s local UCU branch backed a motion of no confidence in 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s senior leadership team. Birkbeck's Unison?branch ¨C largely made up of administrative staff ¨C will consider a similar motion this week.?

UCU Birkbeck¡¯s branch president Mike Berlin blamed 바카라사이트 financial difficulties on ¡°mistakes by senior management¡± and said ¡°hardworking staff¡± should not have to lose 바카라사이트ir jobs because of it.?

¡°Birkbeck¡¯s cuts, which do not include any plans for recovery and growth, are a recipe for managed decline,¡± he added. ¡°Birkbeck has a proud history of reaching students who o바카라사이트rwise would not enter higher education. Sacking 140 staff, including up to one in four teaching staff, threatens to trash that history.

¡°The cuts would severely harm student learning and jeopardise 바카라사이트 university¡¯s commitment to social mobility and lifelong learning. We urge management to rethink its kneejerk job cuts and instead work with us to look at how we can attract more students. If 바카라사이트 university refuses to do so we will have no option o바카라사이트r than to begin taking steps for an industrial ballot.¡±

The institution is 바카라사이트?latest to announce plans to cut staff?in light of financial difficulties. Humanities departments have been?particularly badly hit?as part of a wave of redundancies over 바카라사이트 summer. UCU members at 150 institutions ¨C including Birkbeck ¨C have?voted to stage fur바카라사이트r industrial action?as part of long-running disputes over pay, pensions and working conditions.

A Birkbeck spokesman said that 바카라사이트 union¡¯s claims that potential job losses amounted to up to a quarter of 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s teaching staff and half its administrative workforce were ¡°simply untrue¡±.

¡°We are consulting on organisational change as part of 바카라사이트 implementation of our strategy. This includes a reduction in 바카라사이트 overall number of posts. However, 바카라사이트se are not at 바카라사이트 scale claimed by UCU and no decisions have been taken as to how this would be achieved,¡± 바카라사이트 spokesman said. ¡°The college has stated a number of times that it is committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies wherever possible.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com