Fury as Chesterfield College secret building plans revealed on day staff are sacked

Fury as Chesterfield College secret building plans revealed on day staff are sacked

·         Staff will meet local MP tonight and protest at the college on Monday

·         College did not reveal plans for building refurbishment during meetings over redundancies

Chesterfield College is under fire today (Friday) for sending out redundancy notices to staff on the day it has been revealed that the college is investing huge sums of money in refurbishing its buildings.

Staff are angry that they only found about the scale of the building plans through the press. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are meeting with local MP Toby Perkins this evening and have announced plans for a rally at the college on Monday (1 July) at 1pm outside the main entrance to the college on Infirmary Road (map here - http://tinyurl.com/plm8ykf).

Thirteen lecturers are due to receive letters today, the last day of term, telling them they have been made redundant. Five have had their hours reduced by as much as half and nine staff have left through voluntary redundancy.

UCU regional official, Anne O’Sullivan, said: “Staff and students at Chesterfield College have been treated with utter contempt by the college. In meetings with us the college never mentioned plans to refurbish buildings on this scale. They told us they needed to sack staff to save money.

“Sending out letters telling staff they have been sacked on the last day of term is pretty low and to coincide with the building plans we only found about in the media is very distasteful. We are meeting with the local MP this evening to explain exactly what has been going on at the college and staff will be protesting on Monday.”