Skip Navigation | HOME | UK Indymedia | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

manchester Indymedia

Resistance to Salford University job cuts gathers steam

Django | 22.12.2008 17:19 | Education

Around 150 job losses have been forecast by opponents as part of large cuts across the university, along with the slashing of courses and funding.



The job losses and cuts to courses and infrastructure stem from the ‘project headroom’ program currently being pushed through by university management, which aims to claw back £12.5 million for the university budget.

It is estimated that around 150 academic, teaching, frontline and administrative staff will lose their jobs as part of the cuts. Some workers paid by the hour have already laid off, raising questions about possible illegal discrimination against part-time workers. Additionally, Schools are expected to maintain the same level of output with a reduced workforce, increasing the pressure on those who remain. Students will be hit as a result of the axing of at least one (oversubscribed) course, and through cuts to the IT infrastructure, already some of the worst at a UK university.

Though management claims the cuts are necessary in order to secure funding vital to the future growth of the university, opponents have pointed to the reality of the handling of funds at the university in recent years. £3.9 million was spent on the procurement of a new building for the faculty of arts, media and social sciences, a building which never materialised due to the collapse of the project. Millions have been invested in expensive IT and admin projects, the implementation of which have been dogged by problems. The university has also invested large sums of money in a campus in China.

But the real drain on resources, which the university is seeking to recoup from staff and students, is its investment in the ‘Mediacity:UK’ project on Salford Quays. £40 million is budgeted to be spent on the project. The university and the BBC, who will be moving several departments to Salford as part of the project remain the only major investors in a development which is increasingly becoming seen as a vast white elephant. The project would create a large media industry hub on the quays, and the university plans to move arts and media departments there. Though students are seeing cuts in facilities and courses as a result of the plan, they will see no demonstrable benefits from the Mediacity. University management have claimed that they will enjoy access to the jobs created by the development, however a recent study by a New Zealand based academic in the Environment and Planning journal claims that the numbers cited for job creation are being pulled out of the air. Though the project’s cheerleaders claim it will create jobs and wealth for Salford, it stands only to benefit local media professionals and those who will move to the area along with the BBC. The most locals can expect from it are cleaning and security jobs. The article, by Brett Christopher of the University of Auckland, argues that locals will in fact lose out as a result of the gentrification that the project will entail, and the “shifting priorities” of local authorities who will seek to cultivate the media hub”. The real winners, according to the study, will be property developers who will enjoy the inflation of real estate prices on the Quays.

In short, staff and students are being squeezed in order to fund university investment in a project of no real benefit to either, and the attraction of which is the presumed future investment it will bring into the university when it has shiny new facilities. But all this assumes that the development will proceed as planned, which is extremely unlikely given the current climate. No investors other than the university and the BBC have been drawn into the project due to the economic situation and the collapse in property values. For the same reason, the BBC has been unable to sell its London properties and is looking to scale back its investment in the project. The Mediacity’s director has resigned after just a year in the job.

The university’s involvement will require £50 million per year in commercial contracts, of which it has so far signed none. It seems to be hoping that they will materialise when it occupies a building there. Given the economic climate, this is an obscene risk, and understandably there is real anger amongst staff and students that the investment in this project is trumping their jobs and courses.

Joint meetings are being held between university staff and students, and a cross-union campaign is building against the cuts, involving members of Education Not for Sale, the Industrial Workers of the World and the Anarchist Federation. A snap demonstration against the project drew over 40 protestors despite only being announced the day before, and received noisy support from passing motorists. Statements of solidarity with students and workers in Greece were read, along with the suggestion that lessons be taken from the determination they have shown.

Students and staff hope to build momentum and energy as the campaign develops during the next term, and for this to take place the practice of open mass meetings for staff and students must be continued and defended.

[b]libcom.org[/b]

The UCU joint response to the proposals is available here:
 http://www.ucu.salford.ac.uk/Project%20Headroom.doc

For more on mediacity:uk, see The Salford Star, issue 8. ( http://www.salfordstar.com/p/issue-08/features-08-02.html)

Django
- Homepage: http://www.libcom.org

Download this article in pdf format >>

Email this article to someone >>

Submit an addition or make a quick comment on this article >>

Comments

Hide the following comment

Get real.

23.12.2008 09:56

Fewer taxpayers means fewer public sector jobs.

Pete


Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Manchester Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Manchester Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Manchester Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Manchester Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Manchester Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Manchester Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Manchester Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Manchester Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Manchester Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Languages

english

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech