Strike date announced at Newcastle College

Over four-fifths of UCU members (82%) who voted in last month's strike ballot supported strike action against plans to make more than  170 redundancies, three-quarters of which are teaching posts.

The union has accused senior management of 'jumping the gun' and using the current funding difficulties in further education as an excuse to make cuts. UCU said the plans would have a devastating effect on the local economy, which has already seen a large increase in unemployment, and make it harder for the region to recover from the recession.

The news is further embarrassment for the college after it was revealed in March that the principal, Jackie Fisher, enjoyed a whopping 32% annual pay rise for 2009/2010. More on that story can be found here.

UCU regional official, Iain Owens, said: 'UCU members here at Newcastle College have made it crystal clear that they will fight these proposals. If these plans go ahead, they will have a devastating effect on the local community and make it much harder to retrain people who have lost their jobs during the recession. We need teachers teaching people not on the dole queue.

'We accept further education is facing funding pressures at the moment but we believe the college is acting disproportionately and has jumped the gun. Staff can be forgiven for feeling sceptical about the need for widespread job cuts when they learn of the whopping pay rises earned by those at the top.'

Local UCU contact: Iain Owens, M 07773 283 191, E iowens@ucu.org.uk