Strike action at Barnfield College

UCU members were on picket lines across all five of the college's sites as the college faced its first strike action for over 30 years. The local branch is committed to further and escalating action if the college does not move from its current position.
 
The union estimates that the new contracts would give the college around an extra 30,000 teaching hours a year. The college has refused to say what the majority of extra hours would be used for, but the union fears they could lead to redundancies; something the college has refused to rule out.
 
Most staff at Barnfield College already work above their contracted hours to get everything done and the union says an increase in teaching hours would leave staff having to work even more hours of unpaid overtime.
 
UCU regional support official, Shane Hall, said: 'Staff here are stretched to their limits already and this gun-to-the-head diplomacy pushed them into today's first strike at the college for 31 years.
 
'We fear the college wants fewer staff to do more work, which will result in job losses. Industrial action is always a last resort but when people's jobs are at risk, it's important to make a stand.'