In the latest round of attacks on the education sector, Ulster University has just announced plans to cut 450 jobs from a total of 3,100 staff.
This represents a whopping 14 percent of the total workforce of the university. The consequences will be felt not only by hundreds of workers and their families, but also by every student attending the university.
Just like all other public services being stripped to the bone – education is next on the chopping block as the latest sacrificial lamb to feed the greed of the capitalists while workers and students pay the price. In fact this comes just two years after Queen’s University Belfast axed 5 percent of its workforce.
Although these latest lay-offs are being framed as ‘voluntary’, university management has already admitted that if they fall short of their 450 target – workers will then be forced out.
There is no doubt that these cuts will have a devastating impact on the quality of education for all students in Ulster University, and working conditions for staff all across the board. Lecturers, Tutors and Library staff will all be asked to carry much heavier work loads, which will mean less time dedicated to each student. This will be even more acute on the Magee campus in Derry which is expected to have a massive increase in students from its current 6,500 to 10,000 students by 2032.
Management claims the cuts are necessary as the university has been running an operating deficit of £20.2 million which is not viable in the long term. There is undoubtedly a profound lack of funding for higher education as a product of years of austerity. The resulting marketisation of higher education is driving down conditions for students and staff alike – and now leading to this latest round of lay-offs.
Yet somehow, there is never a shortage of money when it comes to executive perks…The Vice Chancellor somehow managed to find £83,114 to cover three luxurious first class trips to Qatar where he and his colleagues lapped it up in 5-star hotels! Not to mention his £263,000 per year salary – and only four years ago the university had no difficulties financing his more than generous £10,000 raise. What a slap in the face to the staff who are now being told there is not enough money to cover their salaries.
If the situation is truly so dire then management should have no issue proving it. We say: open the books! and Let the people who are being forced out of their jobs see where all the millions of pounds are going.
Ultimately, the administration in Ulster University have shown themselves to be entirely incompetent. Just as we have seen in Stormont and across the economy they are now going to make the workers pay for their failings. In the long run there is only one solution, open the books, kick management – and capitalism – off the campus and have the staff and students run the university on a democratic basis for their own benefit.
