Thank you to the members who were striking today, including those who picketed – a student kindly took the main photo and we’re waiting for that to be sent through – keep an eye on our social media. Today we were joined today by SolidariCAT and Frogoodness Sake. Names to be confirmed.
We are back out tomorrow, and on Wednesday. After the pickets on Wednesday we will be joining friends and comrades from the University of Edinburgh for joint rally at midday in Bristo Square.
After the pickets, we will be joining our friends and comrades at University of Edinburgh UCU at midday in Bristo Square for a joint rally. Please come along and show your support for our mighty branch!
About data
Data has been at the centre of so much of this dispute – staff student ratios, student numbers on courses and programmes, Scholar’s income, research capacity and income.
We have seen data used in a variety of ways to make a range of arguments for the Portfolio Review, Rightsizing and the proposals for Scholar.
Data has been used by the university to under-represent the density of UCU members across the eligible staff groups.
Data has been used to present a misleading picture of the staff student ratio in LINCS to justify Rightsizing cuts. You will have seen the university’s latest update on industrial action sent last Thursday where they aim to ‘provide some insights’ regarding LINCS staffing. The university insists on 6 further FTE to be cut in LINCS via VR/CR on the basis that 33.9 FTE academic staff work in LINCS. However, LINCS only has 28.5 FTE academic staff – this is a discrepancy of 5.4 FTE. We will be asking the university to lay open their SSR calculation method as provided insights so far vary greatly and ignore that one size does not fit all and conference interpreting cannot be taught in a lecture hall.
The data about Scholar paints a partial picture. It totally neglects the surplus that Scholar has generated for Heriot-Watt over most of its 25+ years of its existence, its work for other parts of the university, and its role in student recruitment. There was a small (compared to some other areas of operation at the university) loss in 2024-25. Heriot-Watt have been sitting on their hands, turning down income and refusing to allow staff to find ways to make it more sustainable while they play chicken with the Scottish Government and subscribers from Scottish Local Authorities, SCIS schools, and Further Education Colleges over funding going forward.
Data has also been a matter of concern with the new app developed by the university to record strike days. Many of you have been in touch worried about the privacy and use of this sensitive data. Your negotiators have shared these concerns with the human resources team. On 20 March we asked to see the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) consistent with the ICO guidance on how a DPIA should be conducted. We hoped receive this by close of business on 24 March so that we could reassure members. When we finally received it on Friday 27 March it had been back-dated to commence 23 March. The committee is reviewing this and will share more detailed feedback with the university and its members today or tomorrow.
We will all be back on the Edinburgh pickets tomorrow from 8.00 am. Bring yourself, your placards, your puppies, your baked goods! Full solidarity with our members striking in Orkney and the Borders – you are stars.
