Strike at Goldsmiths University

Photo: Counterfire

Goldsmiths University and College Union (GUCU) launched indefinite strike action on Monday, June 8, in response to sweeping proposed redundancies and an effective management lockout. Senior management argues that major staffing cuts are needed as part of plans to make £22 million in savings by the end of the 2026-27 academic year, with £20 million of those cuts coming from staffing. The proposals could put hundreds of academic and professional-services jobs at risk.

This reflects the wider funding crisis facing English universities, but GUCU points out that huge sums have been spent on consultants, recruitment services and senior-management salaries. Goldsmiths has an internationally recognised history of creativity, including in art and music, but GUCU argues that it is in danger of entering a death spiral of repeated cuts, declining provision and falling student confidence.

GUCU began a marking and assessment boycott on April 27. This is a powerful tactic which the branch previously used as part of a successful campaign to prevent compulsory redundancies. In a ballot that closed on April 10, 81% of members who voted backed strike action and 92% backed action short of a strike, on a turnout of 63%.

In response to the boycott, senior management announced the threat of 100% pay deductions for participants - an effective lockout. GUCU, which has a history of effective militancy, then launched indefinite strike action to force management to withdraw both the threat of full pay deductions and the compulsory redundancies.

There has also been strong support from students, who recently carried out a 32-day occupation of the library to protest against proposed staff cuts. A 24-hour sit-in - which featured overnight shifts, community meals, and study sessions in solidarity with staff facing potential redundancy - ended the occupation on May 20, 2026, after university management threatened participants with campus bans.

GUCU notes:

"This would be the third round of mass cuts in five years. Every previous restructure was presented as the route to financial stability. Instead, staff and students have paid the price while management has continued costly external spending and repeated restructuring. Through Freedom of Information requests, our branch uncovered more than £14 million spent on consultants between 2019 and 2026, alongside at least £6.6 million on recruitment services since 2022. Much of this followed the failed Recovery Programme, which removed internal capacity only for management to spend millions attempting to replace it.

Photo: Lucro Di Mambro-Moor

"Our branch believes Goldsmiths cannot shrink its way out of crisis. The university needs stability, investment, and a serious focus on rebuilding student confidence and recruitment, not another round of cuts that undermines its future." [1]

The threat of a 100% pay deduction places participating staff under severe financial pressure, and GUCU has launched a fundraising appeal. To donate to the strike fund, visit:

https://goldsmithsucu.org/support - fund

Notes

1. Goldsmiths University and College Union homepage, accessed 14 June 2026
https://goldsmithsucu.org

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