Solidarity with the UCU in Defending Jobs and Working Conditions

That the Parliament notes with concern the significant reduction in teaching and support staff at the University of Aberdeen since 2023; believes that this reduction is already having a severe impact on the quality of research, development and tuition, and is detrimentally affecting staff, students and the wider academic community; further believes that the Scottish higher and further education sector is in a severe crisis and that the Scottish Government must commit to sustained, long-term investment in the tertiary education sector to avoid the number of positions being reduced and jobs being lost; condemns what it sees as the failure of senior university management across the country to protect the reputation and quality of Scottish universities, and expresses its full solidarity with Aberdeen University UCU and campus unions, who are engaged in defending jobs and working conditions at the University of Aberdeen.