Uni job cuts a health and safety crisis, union says

3 hours ago Share Save Catriona Aitken BBC News Share Save

Getty Images Some staff at Cardiff University claim the institution did not provide adequate wellbeing support when they were put at risk of redundancy

Planned job cuts at Cardiff University have led to a “total health and safety crisis” with staff feeling their wellbeing has been inadequately considered, a union says. Cardiff UCU has reported Cardiff University’s University Executive Board (UEB) to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following a “comprehensive breakdown of trust and morale” between university bosses and staff. The university initially announced that 400 jobs were at risk and some courses were to be axed in the cost-saving measures, but later reduced this and pledged there would be no compulsory redundancies this year. The university said it was working to increase support on offer to staff members.

On Monday, the university issued an update which stated 151 staff had voluntarily resigned, meaning 69 full-time equivalent job losses would now be needed for it to meet its target. The union said university management had failed to respond to concerns its members had raised, beyond offering “mainly cosmetic” remedies. In the HSE referral submitted on 5 June, the union described the situation as a “total health and safety crisis”. It said some members had reported suffering from mental health concerns, including suicidal thoughts, struggling in their caring duties or worrying about their pregnancy due to anxiety. It said the Academic Futures process, to be considered by the University Council on 17 June, was “an unfolding and comprehensive disaster for staff health, university workload, day to day operations, and academic community”.

In March, a union questionnaire – which was sent to more than 1,500 members across the university and received 197 responses – highlighted cuts had “negatively affected” the health and wellbeing of staff, it said. Experiences reported by union members included anxiety and depression, not sleeping or eating properly, nausea, panic attacks, weight loss, stomach problems, lack of clear thinking and concentration, exhaustion, increased heart rate and blood pressure, struggling with caring duties, drinking, taking medication, taking sick leave, and feeling suicidal. One respondent wrote: “I considered having an abortion as a result of the panic”. One staff member said they had “felt suicidal more than once over the last few weeks”, while another described the support on offer from the university as “woeful”. The latest update on cuts does not prevent compulsory redundancies beyond 2025, and the UCU has called on the university to go a step further and bring the remaining staff out of the “scope for redundancy” category. It added it wanted to see bosses write an all-staff communication “acknowledging the crisis and taking full responsibility for the consequences of choices made during the cuts process”, as well as “addressing staff mental health as a matter of urgency and invest considerably more resources in mental health and wellbeing support”.

Union members protested against the cuts, but planned industrial action was called off after an agreement was reached with the university