Following an online ballot the branch membership have authorised 2 days of strike action during the exam resit and board preparation period in August and notice has been served to the university. The strike days are 7 and 10 August 2026.

We would ask all members to take part. Your colleagues in Scholar and LINCs need your support.

Members should also continue to observe action short of strike and work to contract, refusing to work excess hours or undertake voluntary duties.

Details will follow about the pickets and how to claim from the hardship fund.

Why has this happened?

The university have decided not to honour their side of the agreement reached in June.

The agreement approved by our members was that in return for standing down industrial action during the graduations there would be no compulsory redundancies in LINCS before at least March 2027 and that there having been sufficient VR applications (or redeployment opportunities) there would be no need for compulsory redundancies in Scholar.

After the graduations we were told that the the university have decided not to respect the agreement and are now moving to compulsory redundancies in both LINCS and Scholar. Our negotiators have engaged in good faith so this is an extremely disappointing development. It is almost unheard of for an employer to do this and hugely damaging to industrial relations but regrettably it is how our senior leadership team sometimes behave. We offered to meet with the university last week but the offer was not taken up.

In response to the university’s action our members voted for industrial action via a snap online consultative ballot. It is not a great time of year to catch members who might already be taking a well-earned break, so thank-you to everyone who made time to vote and get us over the threshold in only 3 days.

We would now require an immediate binding commitment from the university that they will not move to CR in Scholar and that they will stick to the agreed timeline in LINCS before we would ask the members to once again call off action. In the meantime, we remain open to meeting with the university.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Members meeting

There will be a members’ meeting at which we will discuss the latest developments in the dispute at 1pm on Thursday 6 August. The meeting will be addressed by Dr Mark Pendleton, Vice President UCU.

A Zoom link has been sent to member email accounts. Please try to attend if you can.

Postal re-ballot

Separate to the online ballot, which is now concluded, members are asked to complete and return their postal ballot papers.

With compulsory redundancies still on the table, we are re-balloting to extend our existing mandate for industrial action for a further 12 months. This will take us into the next academic year.

Members will have seen what is already happening in Dubai. Your vote is crucial to help colleagues who still face the threat of compulsory redundancy.

Thank-you to all those who made it to the pickets today for the final day in this round of strike action. It was another excellent turnout. We will call a members’ meeting soon to discuss options for further action to defend jobs over the summer and into the new session. Please try to attend once a date is fixed and shared. Your negotiators will be meeting with management in the meantime and we remain optimistic that they can find a way forward. The next meeting will be on 8 April and we will feed back.

UCU Joint Rally

After the pickets many of the branch members made their way to Bristo Square for a joint rally with the University of Edinburgh branch of UCU. Students from Heriot-Watt joined speakers from UoE, UCU, Unison, STUC, and spoke passionately about the need to defend higher education as a public good. What is happening at Heriot-Watt is happening elsewhere and our struggle is part of a wider campaign to preserve education.

Gathering data about strike action

Following concerns raised by members about the new method for reporting strike action to a strict deadline (which is not in itself enforceable in law) we have written to the university Data Protection Officer and HR. In tracking the impact of industrial action on teaching we feel that there is potential for lists to be generated by the app creating what could be deemed to be a blacklist. You can read the letter and we will share any updates as we have them.

Action Short of Strike

Tomorrow will likely to be a very busy day for those of us who are not on leave but please remember that we are working to contract as Action Short of Strike.  Don’t give management your time for nothing by working more than your contracted working hours.

Another huge thank you to all those who are coming to the pickets and striking from elsewhere. We had another excellent Edinburgh turnout today including a new special guest – Eduphant the Scholiphant.

Wednesday will be the last of the current strike days. We will be hosting an Easter Egg hunt on the pickets and then we will move to Bristo Square for a joint rally with University of Edinburgh UCU from midday on.

Lets have a big turnout for both.

Action Short of Strike (ASOS)

After this block of strike action ends we return to ASOS. Broadly speaking this means not undertaking voluntary activities or working beyond your contracted hours. Detailed information about working to contract can be found in the FAQs for members on taking action short of a strike. The sector runs on unpaid labour so it is critical that members continue to observe ASOS to help keep the pressure up.

Negotiations

Your negotiators will next meet with University management on 8 April and we will keep you up-to-date on any developments. One aspect we will be putting to management is the accuracy of the data they are using to justify the cuts.

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.

Thank you again to all the members and students who made it to the pickets today, and also to our striking members. Today we were visited by the Fair Deal Flamingo and the Bat, who needs a picket line name. Next week we expect further guests.

Some of our committee members were at the UCU Scotland Congress on Friday. The commitment of our branch members has been praised by the UCU UK President, the UCU Scotland President, and members of branches across the country. We do not stand alone.

Negotiations

The University Secretary has reiterated that compulsory redundancies will remain an option. We believe that compulsory redundancies are neither necessary or proportionate. Our negotiators are trying to arrange the next meeting with university management and we will continue to try and find a mutually acceptable agreement.

Each person striking and each person picketing shows the university how much you care not only about your own job, your own research time, but also your friends’, colleagues’ and comrades’ jobs.

We are the university. Our labour makes the university. We will be back on the pickets from 8:00 am on Monday and we look forward to seeing you all.  Puppies, costumes, and doughnuts welcome. Come along and be part of a community of staff and students which spans all of the schools and services – colleagues and friends who stand together.