UNIVERSITY and College Union (UCU) members at Dundee University are being reballoted for industrial action as the institution lurches into its 11th month of crisis.

The university was plunged into chaos in November last year, when then-principal Professor Iain Gillespie announced a £30 million deficit and promptly resigned. As the gap grew closer to £35m, his successor Professor Shane O’Neill announced plans to axe a third of of the university’s workforce and refused to rule out compulsory redundancies.

The turmoil continued when Prof O’Neill also resigned following the damning Gillies report into the crisis, which slammed a management culture which “routinely shut down” dissent.

Despite an unprecedented £40m Scottish government bailout, however, management plans to axe 390 jobs — 170 under compulsory redundancy — had to be vetoed by the Scottish Funding Council, prompting the reballot.

UCU branch co-president Melissa D’Ascenzio said: “The university’s students and staff have been badly let down. 

“It’s wrong that uncertainty and the threat of job cuts continue to loom over staff at a time when the university’s finances have been stabilised by the intervention of the Scottish Funding Council. All efforts should be directed towards co-creating a credible and sustainable path to recovery that includes staff and students’ voices.”

UCU general secretary Jo Grady added: “It’s scarcely believable that after almost a year, with the university on its third principal in that period, it remains in crisis and staff are having to be balloted again to save jobs and secure the future of the university.  

“The fact that university senior managers have again reverted to their default position of compulsory redundancies means that we need this ruled out once and for all.”

Dundee University was contacted for comment.