// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
University staff begin five-week strike on day one of new term
UCU staff voted in June for the five week industrial action
Lecturers at the University of Dundee are beginning an unprecedented five-week strike over the threat of compulsory redundancies.
Members of the UCU union will not take part in lectures, seminars or tutorials until after 23 October.
The vote for "last resort" industrial action was the latest move in a long-running dispute which started almost two years ago when the university announced a £30m deficit.
Since then, 675 jobs have been lost through voluntary redundancy, and the university has received bailouts of £40m from the Scottish government and £22m from the Scottish Funding Council.
UCU staff at Dundee University went on strike for three weeks last year
The latest of wave of cuts was announced in June proposing to close 187 posts, however that figure fell to 154 job losses by August.
Since the announcement, UCU bosses said there had been 149 applications for voluntary redundancies, which should now rule out the need for compulsory redundancies.
The university said it "anticipates the majority of classes will run as normal" from Monday and that it would seek to minimise the impact of strike action on students.
Dr. Melissa D'Ascenzio, co-president of the Dundee UCU branch told BBC News: "None of our members want to go on strike for five weeks, this is absolutely last resort that we've come to.