Staff strike at Tower Hamlets

The union is angry after Tower Hamlets announced that it will be axing 25 full-time posts and reducing student places on its 'Skills for Life' programme by over 50%, as well as getting rid of important outreach centres and support services for students and learners.

Pickets will held from 11am tomorrow at the college's Poplar and Bethnal Green sites, before staff are joined by members of Unison for a special rally at 1PM outside the Poplar site. The action comes on the same day as further education staff across the country hold lunchtime protests against swathing cuts in the sector.  

Tower Hamlets College works with some of the most underprivileged communities in London and UCU has said that it is deeply concerned about the impact the job losses and cuts to key social programmes will have on the local area. As a result of funding cuts by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) places for students looking to learn key skills in subjects such as English and maths will be slashed from 2,944 to 1,349 in 2009/10.
 
UCU said the planned cuts fly in the face of new government initiatives which call on local authorities to prioritise English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and fund courses for vulnerable and hard to reach groups.  The union warned that essential courses which allow students to progress to the higher level English classes are precisely those which are being cut.
 
Campaigners are also worried about the reduction in outreach centres. The recent government White Paper on informal adult learning recognised the importance of such centres in encouraging people with negative experiences of learning back into education. Over the last three years over 1.4m adult education places have vanished across the UK, with many non-vocational courses being forced to close.
 
Alison Lord, UCU branch chair at Tower Hamlets College Poplar site, said: 'It is a shame that things have come to this. We had no desire to take strike action but what the college is planning is totally unacceptable. Slashing funds for English language courses and getting rid of outreach centres is a massive threat to social inclusion, especially at a time of recession. We realise that the college is having to deal with a funding shortage with from the LSC but this a huge overreaction. We have 800 students on waiting lists so to cut provision in half will hit some of the most vulnerable people in London.  The college hasn't consulted either college staff or the community properly.'
 
UCU head of further education Barry Lovejoy said: 'The staff at Tower Hamlets College have the union's full support. These cuts would deprive the people of Tower Hamlets and the surrounding boroughs of a vital lifeline. With the onset of recession, thousands of unemployed people will look to local colleges and adult education centres to improve their skills. However, if cuts to adult education, like these at Tower Hamlets, go ahead potential students will find their options severely limited.'