UCU calls strike ballot at Durham over workload fears

Staff at Durham University are set to vote in an industrial action ballot over workloads and job cuts.

The ballot will see University and College Union (UCU) members decide whether to take strike action or action short of a strike and is due to open on 15 January and runs until 6 February.

It comes after the university announced last year that it was looking to save £20 million in staff costs over two years. The institution’s latest financial accounts confirmed a voluntary severance scheme in 2025 reduced total staff numbers by around 5 per cent.

The UCU branch said that these job losses have “inevitably led to an extreme increase in demands on staff” and called for workload agreements to be put in place for remaining employees. 

It said 80 per cent of its members had reported increased workloads since the cost saving measures, alongside other negative impacts.

The union has called for Durham to commit to not making compulsory redundancies until the end of 2027, increase the job security of hourly paid staff and take action on workloads.

It claimed that the university has refused to negotiate over the branch’s demands, which it said was “emblematic” of Durham’s “obstructive and damaging” approach to industrial relations. 

In response, the university said it had fully responded to the claim in full in November 2025, pointing to a document published on its website.

This, penned by the chief people officer, Nic Johnston, outlined that the university felt requests put forward by the branch were “not reasonable within a highly volatile higher education market”.

“They would add a considerable amount of expenditure at a time when we are trying to make savings.”

It goes on to say: “We have explained why we cannot accept the claims put forward. The fact that your representatives do not agree with our position does not mean our explanations are unacceptable.”

UCU rejected this response as not representative of “meaningful” progress. Jamie Callahan, Durham’s UCU branch president, said it now had “no choice” but to ballot for industrial action. 

He said the union had hoped for “a constructive environment with a fresh perspective from management and a desire to resolve the issues on both sides” but accused the university executive of “ongoing unilateralism” which he said was “deeply regrettable”.

Jo Grady, general secretary of UCU, said staff are being asked to do “more and more with less and less, while being denied any meaningful reassurance about the security of their jobs”. 

“Goodwill is not limitless, and universities like Durham would collapse tomorrow if their staff stopped going above and beyond out of dedication,” Grady added.

A Durham University spokesperson said on 8 January: “We were notified yesterday afternoon that the local UCU branch plan to ballot for industrial action. The assertions made in the national UCU press release are inaccurate and without foundation.

“We work closely with all four of our campus trade unions on issues such as workload. We responded fully to UCU’s claims in November 2025 and published our response.

“We are disappointed that the UCU are considering action which would be without justification. We continue to engage regularly and transparently with our whole staff body on how best to manage the financial pressures on our sector and to mitigate any impacts on students and staff.”