Staff strike at City College Birmingham

The industrial action by members of UCU comes just 12 months after a previous staff cull saw 75 teaching jobs go. If the latest round of cuts goes ahead the college will have lost nearly a third of its teaching staff in just over a year.

On 5 June lecturers voted overwhelmingly for taking the strike action, with 95% of those balloted saying yes to walking out. Pickets will take place from 8am at the college's main Handsworth site, and there will be a rally in Handsworth Park.

UCU picket line at City College Birmingham City College Birmingham works with some of the most underprivileged communities in the city and the union said today that it is deeply concerned about the impact job losses and worsening conditions of service will have on key social programmes. Under the proposals provision for students with learning difficulties will be halved and young people needing support will have to attend bigger classes.

The redundancies will mean bad news for the staff that survive the cull as the college also plans to massively increase the teaching hours of those lecturers left in post. Non-teaching staff are also at risk from the proposals. The union blames poor management, expensive consultants and the failings of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for the proposed redundancies.

Ivan Davis, a former student at City Birmingham College, who completed an access course between 2005 and 2006, said: 'These job losses would be a disaster for the local community. The teachers and staff helped changed my life and gave me career options. I am now in higher education, studying social work and have a real sense of direction. People from communities like the one I grew up in need to be encouraged to study not cut adrift. Students, especially those with learning disabilities, need to have access to courses locally.

UCU Regional Official, Nick Varney, said: 'The college needs to take a long hard look at itself. Management can point to a failure in funding as much as they like, but introducing draconian changes to the contracts of staff and slashing jobs is simply not the answer.  This will undermine the quality of provision and lead to more cuts down the line.

'It is criminal that at a time when we should be looking to extend further education's ability to meet the needs of our communities, City College Birmingham is looking to get rid of staff and key courses.  If these cuts go ahead it will be the most socially deprived areas of Birmingham that suffer the most.'