Lecturers at Brunel University have voted in favour of industrial action, including a one-day strike, over plans to make 50 members of staff redundant in its bid to become a research-led institution.
Members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) are expected to strike some time over the next month after 71% of members voted on Friday to do so. Some 77% voted for action short of a strike in a ballot with a turnout of 52%.
The ballot followed the university's announcement last year that it was seeking to make redundancies among academics it did not consider to be "research active" in order to boost its research output ahead of an expected research assessment exercise (RAE) in 2008. The results of the RAE have a direct impact on the amount of money universities receive from the funding council Hefce.
The proposed redundancies were approved last month by the university council and will affect all departments, except those of social sciences and law and information systems, computing and mathematics.
Of the 50 redundancies, 44 will be voluntary, but the remaining six could be compulsory. Compulsory redundancies are extremely rare in universities, and the AUT has already said it would take legal action against such a move.
The association's lawyers have written to the university's vice-chancellor, Steven Schwartz, warning that staff appointed before November 20 1987, and not subsequently promoted, were protected against compulsory redundancy. If staff in this group were forced to leave, the AUT said it would seek an injunction to protect them.
The general secretary of the AUT, Sally Hunt, said: "The depth of anger that Prof Schwartz has caused among our members is reflected in the over two-thirds majority for strike action. "We would urge the university management to step back from the brink by an immediate lifting of the threat to make staff compulsorily redundant," she said.
Brunel said it hoped to reach voluntary redundancy agreements for the remaining six staff, and it is expected to make an announcement at the end of the month.
Prof Schwartz said the 50 redundancies would not result in a cut in staff numbers as the university is recruiting 90 new staff who will conduct more research. It is also spending £160m on new facilities.
A university spokeswoman told EducationGuardian.co.uk today: "We are obviously disappointed with this line of action, particularly as the university has reached amicable agreements with the majority of staff affected by the redundancy exercise, and we are continuing discussions in this regard.
"However, the number of staff members who have voted to strike represent less than 5% of our staff and about one-third of our AUT membership. As such, we expect the impact on students and our wider community to be minimal. We will of course continue to work closely with staff and unions to negotiate the best possible outcome for all involved."
