GCU Strike Action to Continue
But Why?
WRITTEN BY Katie McKenzie
GAFF MEDIA
With Credits to the Student Solidarity Organisation
How can we become the professionals of tomorrow without the correct guidance? Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) is an institution which prides itself in being "for the common good". Access, excellence, and impact are the values at the heart of this mission - attributes that senior management seem to have forgotten amidst the industrial action taking place on their doorstep.
In March this year, senior management at GCU announced that up to 100 jobs would be cut in response to a predicted financial deficit. The number has been lowered to around 50 as a result of some staff taking voluntary redundancy. Following unsuccessful negotiations between university management and unions at the beginning of the trimester, staff have been left with no choice but to take industrial action.
Originally, members of the Educational Institute of Scotland University Lectures Association (EIS ULA), University College Union (UCU), and Unison were only supposed to be taking industrial action until week six of teaching.
However, it has recently been announced that these strikes will continue for another three weeks, meaning management has yet again failed to remove any threat. It is evident that management have repeatedly failed to engage in meaningful conversations with staff and unions regarding their concerns. In particular, a 113-page document suggesting alternatives to compulsory redundancies created by lecturers with expertise in economics, finance and accounting were dismissed by Chief Financial Officer Paul Queen. Taking bias aside, surely folk with such extensive knowledge in the field should be taken seriously? There are clearly other ways to address the financial shortfall, yet management do not want to accept that.
Current planned strike days are as follows:
October:
20th, 21st, 22nd, 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th
November
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th
For the first time in history, all four trade unions participated in strike action simultaneously. Unite joined the picket line on October 15th, though none of their members are at risk, to show solidarity with their colleagues facing threat. This marked Unite's first time taking industrial action at GCU.
Cody Thomson, fourth year Cyber Security & Networks student and member of GCU Student Voice, said: "Seeing Unite join the industrial action was incredibly encouraging. It is powerful to see people stand alongside colleagues even when their own jobs are not at risk. Since the Thatcher era, such displays of solidarity through industrial action have become increasingly uncommon in the UK, which makes this particularly significant."
Many students have expressed anger towards missing so many classes, with some not even experiencing a full, undisrupted week of teaching to date.
Whilst I, and many other students, are frustrated with the disruption to our studies, it is with no doubt that our frustration lies with the university management rather than those on strike.
Cody added: "GCU prides itself on widening access, so I find Principal Mairi Watson's criticism of the Scottish funding model deeply disappointing. To me, her comments suggest support for moving towards the English model without explicitly saying so. Any move that makes higher education more financially challenging risks undermining access for working-class and mature students.
"The university has also said that students will not be examine on material they have not been taught, while maintaining that they must meet all learning outcomes to pass. That leaves a fundamental question unanswered: how can students meet those outcomes if the necessary teaching has not taken place?
"The university's leadership should be held accountable for how its decisions serve ["for the common good"], rather than simply repeating it as a slogan."
Yes, I am filled with doubt and uncertainty with how I will pass my classes without the support I need, but this does not compare with the anxiety our staff feels. This is their livelihood at risk of being jeopardised, their passion, their craft. Without them there is no GCU.
The university has around £90.7 million in cash reserves alone. Not only that, but a projected surplus of £5.6 million for the 2025/2026 financial year, so why are jobs still under threat?
It doesn't stop there. For reasons yet to be disclosed, a plot of land at Buchanan House Gate was purchased for £4.5 million. That amount is, funnily enough, around the same needed to keep the staff they are so desperately trying to get rid of. Why is a plot of land worth more than the people that make GCU?
The rippling consequences of these redundancies will hit both staff and students extremely hard. According to The Guardian University Guide 2026, GCU is amongst those universities with the worst staff-to-student ratios in the UK - it will become the worst after the cuts. Students already feel the effects of limited staff, with feedback from the National Student Survey (NSS) highlighting concerns with teaching, feedback, and academic support available. These issues will only get worse if these cuts go ahead. How are students supposed to reach their potential without adequate support? How are staff meant to cope with the overwhelming number of students that rely on them?
We must stand with the staff and continue to fight for them.
