Durham University management plans to cut £20 million from staff costs by August 2026. Management's plans have already resulted in a loss of more than 300 jobs and will increase workloads, damage student support, and undermine world-class teaching and research. Cuts of this scale will also have a negative impact on the local economy and job market in County Durham.

Staff cuts are not a necessity — they are a choice. The employer has refused to provide financial information to justify this choice, and publicly available financial data does not indicate these cuts are necessary. Durham UCU is fighting to protect jobs and workloads and, ultimately, the student experience. We believe any necessary savings should come from non-staff costs, and that no compulsory redundancies should be made.

Durham UCU has called three days of strike action in June 2025 calling upon management to rule out compulsory redundancies. Management could have avoided these three days of action. Durham UCU asked management to rule out compulsory redundancies in 2025 and our negotiators would recommend, in turn, that no strike action would be taken. Management refused without even making a counter offer.

We urge university leadership to protect staff, students, and the future of our university.

Sign this petition to show your support.

We will present the signatures to the Vice-Chancellor. Personal data (name and connection to Durham) will be deleted after the petition is submitted to comply with GDPR.