Video News: University of Northampton support staff in protest at proposed job cuts
DOZENS of support staff at The University of Northampton took part in a protest against 78 proposed job cuts at the institution.
About 40 Unison members stood outside the Senate building, in the Park Campus, yesterday with banners and placards displaying slogans such as ‘Don’t wreck our uni with savage job cuts’.
The protest, which was attended by staff during their lunch hour, was supported by the University and College Union (UCU) and Northampton Student’s Union, and a similar protest took place on the St George’s Avenue campus simultaneously.
Unison representative at the university, Martin Fage, said he thought the cuts would harm the quality of education for students.
He said: “The cuts will impact on the student experience.
“Last year the university was rated number one for ‘value added’ and that was down to the staff that are now being threatened with redundancy.
“We feel that the consultation has not been meaningful and that the university has not been seeking alternative ways to making cuts rather than compulsory redundancies. The students recognise that this is an attack on their education.
“They will be paying treble the fees but getting a reduced service as the experience they receive is from lecturers who use support staff to deliver their courses.
“We’re not going to take this lying down and we may have a ballot for industrial action.”
The consultation period on the job losses has been extended by the university until October 8 but Claire Campbell, regional organiser for Unison, said many members did not feel management was engaging in a “meaningful” way.
She said: “We have had hundreds of people turn up to meetings and there is a very strong sense from members that the consultation is missing alternatives.”
The Chron revealed last month that a string of redundancies would be triggered by the completion of the Professional Services Review in June.
Details of a consultation paper stated that 22 jobs were set to go in information services, 12 in research, 10 in marketing and 10 in student administration services.
The University of Northampton declined to comment about yesterday’s protest.
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There are 13 comments to this article
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willi eckaslyke
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 09:55 AMThe Truth Will Out.....one should avoid cliches like the the plague (they are old hat)
TheCount
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 09:49 AMP.S Another negative with re-circulating money supply is that because of the number of immigrants shipping money out of the country we are actually worse off because of it. We need wealth creation jobs not public sector jobs.
TheCount
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 08:58 AMThe Truth Will Out - lady muck is spot on. The truth is that because the money is coming through the tax system and into the local economy, it's only recycled wealth. You are not actually creating any extra wealth for the nation or the county, you are not adding to the tax pot. You are only trying to grab a bigger and bigger % of that pot. The pot has been increased by years of government borrowing to the extent that the nation is in deep financial peril. There is no money to pay off these debts, the pot has to be brought down somehow. The real tax payers ( the wealth creators who put in more than they tax out ) are over-stretched and can't afford the luxury of a massive public sector. I'm sorry people will loose their jobs but the real tax payers can't pay any more. You need to makeaccept the cuts. We need bigger cuts, and they will come !!! If you don't like, get a real job and become a real tax payer...see how you like that.
lady muck
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 11:36 PMThe Truth Will Out....the purpose of the University is not to provide a 'make-work scheme' to keep people in employment. Although you explain that times are tough in Higher Education, the fact is that times are tough everywhere and it is the Vice-Chancellor's responsibility to ensure that economies are made wherever possible. Your suiggestion that this will lead to the destruction of the University and it's collapse 'like a pack of cards' is pure hyperbole, and with respect, reduces your arguments to a caricature of the nonsense more usually associated with the loony left. Not for the first time I find myself in agreement with the Count.
The Truth Will Out
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 09:35 PMThe University of Northampton brings millions into the local economy each year. Not only does it provide educational opportunities, but it provides employment, it draws people into the town and it enables local business to flourish through the money spent within the town by staff and students. Its survival and success are invaluable to our community and economy. If you live in Northampton, whether you work in the public sector or in the private sector, your life is likely to be positively affected by the presence of the University. Right now, times are tough in Higher Education and it's paramount the University works to improve the student experience in order to maximise student recruitment. However, there is a real risk that this particular round of cuts, rather than making the University more efficient and streamlined (which does need to be done), could instead lead to the destruction of the University. Cuts are being made quickly because the University's management wants to ensure the institution is in financial shape for what could be some difficult years ahead, but that doesn't mean cuts have to be made hastily. Rather than a considered approach being taken to restructuring, slash and burn tactics are being used. Caught up in the fire are lynchpin staff upon whom other staff depend and upon whom the University depends. If they are removed, the institution will come tumbling down like a house of cards. Other staff, fearful about what will be left, are beginning to jump ship and are getting jobs elsewhere. We've already lost some of our best staff. Day by day, the University is haemorrhaging its staff knowledge assets. Through its actions, the University management is losing the good will of staff. Staff who were prepared to do extra hours for nothing (and there are plenty of us who work long hours at home for no extra pay), no longer have a psychological contract with the University and no longer feel the desire to go the extra mile.
TheCount
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 03:00 PMDuke of Null - You can try and present a reasoned argument, if you can. However, the country is in deep financial do do and the uni's expansions were built on borrowed money and taxation. If you can find a solution to the problem of keeping funding going when a) no one will lend to you, b) no one can afford to pay back the borrowed money and c) Mass unemployment, d) Massive inflation without wage inflation they I'd like to hear it. I have every sympathy for anyone loosing their jobs and no doubt the cuts will be painful. However, I'm sick of being taxed into the ground to pay for Labour's miracle economy...it was no miracle..it was based on debt and deceit. and if it's a choice between you feeding your family or me feeding my famiy then who do you want me to choose ? Why should the public sector workers get good salaries ( their average salary is higher than the private sectors these days ) and better pensions than the people being FORCE to pay for them ? When you can answer those questions I'll be happy to change my mind.
lady muck
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 02:49 PMJust a Person..thanks..as you say, my 'insight' is actually 'the obvious', although apparently not obvious to the strikers. Please let me know in a few months whether the protest has prevented any redundancies. Never pick a battle you can't win...........The unions need to wake up to what's happening across the world.
Duke of Null
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 02:48 PMWhile it's clearly pointless trying to reason with TheCount directly, I would point out to anyone reading his comments that one of the points the protesters were making is that students, who will soon be paying £9000 in fees, will suffer from these cuts. The staff being threatened offer direct support to students in a variety of ways, from academic advice to cleaning (indeed, the proposed replacement of the cleaners has caused much upset among the students, who often rely on them for regular and friendly support away from home). Their work will inevitably be outsourced, as it is demonstrably necessary. At the moment, students are supported by staff that regularly (daily) go above and beyond their hours and duties - not because of their astronomical salaries but because they care about and believe in what they do. When their jobs are outsourced they will simply be done as cheaply as possible, to suit the profit margins of all parties involved, and the long-term victims will be its students and, ultimately, the town. These staff have in many cases worked at the University for the best part of 20 years, and in some cases longer. They have worked proudly to make the University of Northampton, which is a part of their community, what it is today. What we are now seeing is a new Vice Chancellor destroying what they have achieved in order to further his own career, which will take him out of Northampton just as surely as it brought him in, leaving someone else to manage the long-term effects. My advice to anyone studying at the University, and to parents of students, is to watch future developments very carefully. The support staff cull will not be the end of the matter. It is a great shame.
Finker
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 01:57 PMCount, these cuts won't save a penny of tax.
TheCount
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 01:35 PMWell done. You are protesting so I have to keep paying huge amounts of tax so you can get a big salary and a much better pension that most in the private sector can afford. Meanwhile you charge young adults £9K a year to go to university and in all likelyhood they will struggle to get a decent job at the end of it........DONT EXPECT A LOT OF SYMPATHY FOR YOUR CAUSE. Do the decent thing...accept the cuts, make more cuts, give us help reduce the countries debts and everyones tax bills and save our young peolpe from a life time of debtextra taxation.
Just a Person
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 01:32 PMI think the whole point of the protest is that they WON'T have jobs for much longer, so thanks Captain Obvious, I mean Lady Muck, your insight was invaluable :)
lady muck
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 10:12 AMNot such a smart move to protest on the very day that record jobless figures are announced ! They should be grateful they have jobs...there are plenty who would be willing to take their place.
Links
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 07:36 AMI really don't have anything to say about this, I just though I'd get in quickly before Jackson does with his usual tirade about "what university? We don't have a university..."
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