OXFORD University Press (OUP) staff are to go on strike over plans to move nearly 50 roles to India, Unite said today.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham described the OUP’s offshoring plans as a “classic case of an employer prioritising greed over its hardworking staff.”

“It is an absolute disgrace that it has pushed through this decision and put our members’ jobs at risk,” she added.

More than 30 Unite members are to strike from September 1 to 11 over OUP’s decision to offshore the finance operations department to EXL Services.

It will provide services from India, making it impossible for staff to TUPE transfer with the work, said Unite.

Last November, OUP proposed to make 113 redundancies in Britain, with most affecting its education and English language teaching divisions. It recently made 76 redundancies after acquiring Swiss publisher Karger.

An OUP spokesman said: “We are committed to consulting with our colleagues to reach a resolution. We have plans in place to minimize any potential disruption to colleagues, customers, or suppliers.”