Dundee University Strikes – Solidarity from the SSP

By Jack Reekie

Higher education is in crisis.

From Edinburgh University slashing courses, Glasgow Caledonian University cutting jobs or various colleges across Scotland rushing to cut their budgets down by any means necessary, the tertiary education system that at times has been the envy of the world for its quality and accessibility is sprinting to gut the very services that make that possible.

Dundee is different. In November 2024, a £30 million deficit was uncovered in the university, with every measure taken proving unable to prevent a gaping hole from forming in Dundee university’s finances. So far 815 jobs have been cut, with voluntary redundancy schemes already in place, while a further 200 jobs are set for the axe. That’s over 1000 job losses which, under Nigel Seaton’s administration would see Maths, Languages and Humanities courses hit the hardest.

Financial reports from 2024-25 and 2025-26 have yet to be released, as Dundee university’s financial burdens are placed on students, lecturers and support staff instead of on the management that allowed this crisis to unfold completely unchecked. The court of session, also known as the university court, voted on the 8th of September in favour of compulsory redundancies, and subsequently faces 5 weeks of strike action.

We stood outside the tower building on the 21st of September on the first day of the strike alongside the unions taking industrial action (including Unison, Unite and UCU); we were also joined by students against cuts, trade unionists from across Dundee and concerned members of the public. As some of the strikers pointed out, the knock-on effects of hundreds of job losses each year to one of the city’s largest employers will undoubtedly leave scars on Dundee’s increasing inequality and unemployment.

Omar Feraboli, a Dundee UCU member said: “This fight, this strike is about our jobs and it’s about the whole city, it affects the whole education sector. There’s been cuts in Edinburgh, Glasgow, across the whole country! This campaign is a much broader struggle which involves the whole city.”

The Scottish Socialist Party stands in solidarity with striking staff at Dundee university and the students who will be impacted by loss of courses, and we encourage anyone to come along to the strike action from the 21st of September until 23rd of October, 8am-11am Monday to Friday outside the Tower Building at Dundee University.

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