GOLDSMITHS University staff are poised to strike for five days in a long-running dispute over a redundancy programme next Monday.

The University and College Union (UCU) was due to meet Goldsmiths management at Acas today and put forward its demands for all compulsory redundancies to be halted.

More than 130 staff were originally set to be made redundant.

This has now fallen to 97, who remain at risk of losing their jobs before the start of the next academic year.

The union is calling for an improved voluntary severance scheme to be explored.

It comes as staff continue an ongoing marking and assessment boycott.

They are also balloting to extend their ability to take industrial action into the next academic year.   

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “The cuts Goldsmiths is forcing through threaten to turn the institution into an academic wasteland, devoid of the staff and courses responsible for its reputation as a global centre for culture and innovation.”

A university statement said: “We consulted staff and unions over our plans but unfortunately this did not result in viable ways forward which would have avoided the need to make compulsory redundancies, which are currently at a provisional stage.”