Glasgow Caledonian University is facing the latest in a series of one-day strikes, with a fourth union joining the industrial action.

Staff with the Unite union are to join colleagues from the UCU, the EIS and Unison in walking out on Thursday.

The dispute is over plans by management at the university to cut about 40 posts - which could include compulsory redundancies - which they say will secure the institution's finances.

However, unions say the the cuts are "a vindictive choice" rather than a necessity. Three of the unions have already taken strike action in recent weeks.

In March, the university announced plans to cut up to 100 posts, saying this was needed to cover a drop in income from international students.

Voluntary redundancies brought that figure down to about 40 but compulsory redundancies remain possible.

The unions want a guarantee that nobody will be forced to leave, but university leaders say they cannot provide such a promise.

The UCU, the EIS and Unison all walked out on 1 October, while staggered strike action by different groups of workers has taken place on other days since then. More than 50 Unite members will now walk out on Thursday as well.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Glasgow Caledonian University's attack on jobs, pay and conditions is unnecessary and a vindicative choice by its management. "Our members have been left with no option but to fight back against these unnecessary cuts." The move marks the first time all campus unions have collectively taken industrial action at Glasgow Caledonian.

The unions claim the university has about £95m in cash reserves, while also criticising a controversial plan to spend around £4.5m of funds on purchasing land in the city centre.

The university says buying and selling land is part of a long-standing strategy. It previously highlighted that it is facing a £10m deficit in the next financial year, and said the cuts are needed to put it back on a "sound financial footing".

Alison MacLean, a regional coordinating officer with Unite, said: "The joint action will force the university to close its doors and lecture rooms. "That is a sad position for the workers and students to be in but that's a situation the university has brought upon itself."

A spokesperson for the university said: "It is disappointing that the unions continue to request that we spend our finite reserves, and remove the potential for compulsory redundancies for the dispute to be resolved. "The reduction in recurrent income means that this would be irresponsible as it fails to grapple with the long-term structural issues we need to fix.

"Like many universities, we have to make undeniably difficult decisions in the face of a challenging financial climate for higher education. We wouldn't be proposing redundancies unless they were absolutely necessary for the future of the University.

"We have offered to meet union reps to resolve this dispute and find a way for us all to move forward."

The strike comes as Scotland's universities grapple with funding issues About 3,000 staff are currently carrying out five weeks of strikes at the University of Edinburgh over £140m of cuts, while Dundee University staff are also staging a five-week walkout.