30 June industrial action latest

• Staff at Barnsley College have given bosses a 3pm deadline to respond to new proposals, or they will also walk out
• Leeds city centre rally starts at 12:30pm
• Union is in eleventh hour talks with Mid Cheshire College to try and avert strike that would hit college's open day
• Action planned for Sheffield College has been suspended

Bradford College UCU members will be on picket lines outside the David Hockney Building on Great Horton Road from 7:30am. They will make their way to Leeds later in the morning to attend a rally in outside Leeds Art Gallery that starts at 12:30pm. Speakers include UCU president Liz Lawrence and TUC regional secretary Bill Adams.

UCU members at Bradford and Barnsley are calling on the college to rule out any compulsory redundancies and seek alternative solutions to deal with any financial difficulties. Strike action that was planned for Sheffield College has been suspended after the college agreed an improved voluntary redundancy scheme and made it available to more staff.

Staff at Barnsley College have given the college until 3pm today to respond to new plans from the union to mitigate job losses. The union said it is frustrated it took the college a week to revise its plans and only create one new post, which none of the staff at risk of losing their jobs would be qualified to apply for. The union's latest counter proposal rules out the risk of compulsory redundancies and would give all members a suitable job to apply for.

UCU is in eleventh hour talks with Mid Cheshire College aimed at trying to avert a strike there tomorrow. If the talks break down, union members will be on picket lines outside both entrances of the Hartford campus tomorrow from 8am. The strike will cause major disruption as around 500 local year 11 pupils are due to attend a taster day at the college.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Colleges are experiencing some financial difficulties at the moment, but the answer is to work with us to explore all the options available - not axe staff. We hope Barnsley and Mid Cheshire colleges respond positively to us today and strike action won't be necessary there.

'Members will be walking out at Bradford College and then making their way to Leeds for a regional rally in defence of further education. Strike action is always a last resort but, in the face of redundancies and lost opportunities, our members feel there is no other option.'