Glasgow Caledonian on strike

Despite bouts of torrential rain, around 50 members of the UCU and EIS-ULA (Higher Education section of the Scottish teachers union EIS) picketed Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) on Tuesday 4 August on the latest day of a programme of rolling strikes.

Despite years of operating surpluses, despite £94 millions in reserves, despite having been ranked last year as the UK’s top modern university, and despite the fact that GCU is not running a deficit, management announced in March that it planned to cut a hundred jobs.

The proposed job cuts would mean increased pressure on remaining staff, less student support, reduced research capacity, and larger classes. Despite its status as the UK’s top modern university, student-to-staff ratios at GCU are already amongst the worst in the UK.

To add insult to injury, GCU management has also just announced that it has spent £5.4 millions on buying a local vacant piece of land. Whatever they plan on building there will cost several millions more.

Unfortunately, but consistent with other campaigns against job losses (and not just in Higher Education), both the UCU and EIS-FELA are demanding no compulsory redundancies rather than no job losses at all.

The first three days of the rolling strike action took place in June, to coincide with degree award ceremonies. Last Tuesday’s strike coincided with "clearing day" (for would-be students who did not achieve the grades needed for the university places they had been offered).

Funding from the Scottish Funding Council requires universities to "recruit" a fixed number of students for the courses they offer, with a leeway of 3% on either side of the figure. Funding is cut if the university "recruits" less than 97% of its target for a course, and no additional funding is provided if the university "recruits" more than 3% over its target for the course.

The chance of a university place can therefore be determined by the funding package rather than by what students wish to study.

This also has the knock-on effect of universities offering places to fee-paying students from outside of Scotland while rejecting Scottish students with the same or better grades (because they are "surplus" to the targets fixed by the Scottish Funding Council).

Fee-paying students are more "profitable". And, given the marketisation of Higher Education, that is what counts.

The next strikes will be during GCU freshers week (7, 8 and 10 September). Picket lines will be organised for each strike day, starting at 8am at the Cowcaddens Road entrance.