Union members at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have voted overwhelmingly for strike action, and staff at the University of Sheffield could be next to walk out.

Last year UEA announced that it planned to cut about 170 staff across the university and warned that it could not rule out compulsory redundancies, on top of 400 jobs that had already been axed.

In a ballot of University and College Union (UCU) branch members, 82 per cent voted in favour of strike action, on a turnout of 67 per cent. Eight-four per cent said that they would be prepared to take action short of a strike, such as working to rule.

Branch co-chair Nadine Zubair said it was a “huge win” for union and staff members.

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“We believe that the employer is actively pursuing compulsory redundancies and is not fully committed to considering genuine and realistic mitigations that could protect jobs,” she said.

“This latest financial crisis has once again brought to the fore serious concerns about the governance of UEA as an institution, as well as the current financial and business strategy of the executive team.”

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UCU quoted a business case which indicated that UEA plans to cut at least 90 professional services roles, and nearly as many academic posts: 30 in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 25 in the Faculty of Science, and 22 in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

Zubair, a digital humanities manager at UEA who is herself at risk of redundancy, said there were concerns about the university’s financial plan, and fears of further blood-letting after the current round of redundancies.

“How do we know this isn’t going to happen again next year? Because nothing seems to be changing,” she said.

A UEA spokesperson said that the university was aware of the ballot and would “wait to see what that action entails”.

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“This is regrettable but we can assure our students that we will make every effort to ensure that the student learning experience is protected,” the spokesperson said.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said UEA’s leadership “needs to start listening to their staff and work with us to avoid compulsory redundancies and further unrest on campus”.

“UEA staff have overwhelmingly backed strike action because they refuse to allow their colleagues to lose their livelihoods because of the financial turmoil management has caused,” she said.

“This ballot result reflects the justified anger university staff feel over management’s failings.”

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Meanwhile, the UCU branch at the University of Sheffield was successful in its consultative ballot on strike action, and wrote on social media that it would be looking to gain permission from the union to carry out a formal ballot.

In recent months concern has been growing at Sheffield over the future of its School of East Asian Studies, amid plans to move some activity to the Modern Languages Teaching Centre, and to end standalone degrees in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

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This news follows major cuts announced across the UK, including at Durham University, Newcastle University and the University of Kent, as well as Queen’s University Belfast�����Ի� Cardiff University.��

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com