UNISON declares victory in Bradford redundancy row

University of Bradford climbs down on redundancy numbers the week after four-day strike

UNISON has declared victory in a dispute with the University of Bradford over its plans for 250 redundancies, following four days of strike action last week.

The university announced that 250 jobs were “at risk” of redundancy in June, sparking the industrial action process which culminated in last week’s strike.

The workers also received support from local MPs Judith Cummins and Imran Hussain, who urged the university to enter talks and avoid a strike.

The union says that the university management refused to enter into talks, and has so far refused to say how many jobs are actually being cut and staff made redundant.

However, UNISON understands that as few as eight members have been told their jobs are now at risk, while around a dozen have taken voluntary redundancy.

Regional organiser Leonie Sharp commented: “Because the University of Bradford’s senior leadership has failed to properly engage with staff and unions through this redundancy process, we can only assume the reason they have changed their minds over redundancies is UNISON’s industrial action.”