Anti-cuts success as lecturers vote to strike at Leeds University

Teaching staff at Leeds University have voted in favour of strike action against job cuts. 64% of those who returned their ballot papers were in favour of going on strike.

The result comes despite a vicious campaign run by student union officers aiming to bully teachers into voting ‘no’.

The successful ballot is a victory not only for staff whose jobs are under threat but for tens of thousands of students at the university, and the campaign group Leeds University Against Cuts who have been fighting against the student union anti-teacher campaign called ‘Education First’.

Daniel Edmonds, a revolution activist, is currently standing against student union officers in elections on an anti-cuts manifesto. In his campaign he is calling for solidarity between teachers and staff. Daniel said, “This result is great news for staff worried about their jobs, and for all of us who are taught by them. Leeds University Against Cuts have fought hard against our student union’s scab campaign against the teachers, which in the end, only strengthened the resolve of campus workers. The failure of the misleadingly titled ‘Education First’ campaign also shows that Leeds students had much more sense than to blame their teachers for management driven cuts.”

A message sent out today by a lecturer in the UCU union said, “we owe a debt of gratitude to those students that have, and continue to support our cause to defend education here at Leeds.”