LONDON, February 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- 'Stain on university's 800th birthday celebrations,' says Unite

Plans to axe more than 150 jobs at the world-famous Cambridge University Press (CUP) are to be debated by the Cambridge City Council on Thursday (26 February).

Proposals by the profitable CUP to cuts the jobs in its printing division and the publishing education group have been described by Unite, the largest union in the country as 'an irredeemable stain on Cambridge University's reputation as its celebrates its 800th anniversary'.

The motion before city councillors notes 'with alarm', plans to make 150-plus redundancies locally and 'the impact that these would have on the fabric of the community and the tradition of an indigenous industry of the city'.

Unite pinpoints poor management decisions for the present crisis, in particular the loss of the five-year GBP50 million Cambridge Assessment contract.

Unite said that if management had made a one-off GBP300,000 investment at Duxford, near Cambridge, it would have met the 'secure environment' demand of Cambridge Assessment, which is Europe's largest assessment agency incorporating three major exam boards.

Unite/GPMU National Officer, Ann Field said: 'It is wrong that dedicated professional and skilled employees working for a profitable organisation with an annual turn-over of GBP177 million should pay with their jobs because of managerial incompetence.'

'We call on management to rescind these plans for job cuts, before they become an irredeemable stain on the university's 800th anniversary celebrations. The CUP should not be slashing jobs unnecessarily in a recession.'

Unite said that in the last five years staff had lost their final salary pension scheme; they had also experienced a three-year wage freeze; and its print members had increased productivity by 80%.

Ann Field said: 'These job cuts are a shabby reward for all the efforts and sacrifices that the workforce have made in recent years - and now threaten to end 425 years of continuous printing by the CUP in Cambridge.'

Unite members will be lobbying councillors at Thursday's meeting which is at The Guildhall, Cambridge, starting at 6.00pm.

Notes to News Editors: Ann Field, +44(0)7831-676-587; Shaun Noble, Communications Officer (Third Sector), +44(0)20-7420-8951, +44(0)7768-693-940; Steve Ireland, Unite regional officer, +44(0)7798-754-066