UCU THC Joint branch sec

Solidarity with your Chesterfield college and your strike next Tuesday.

Here is a personal message you may wish to send to your committee. I must thank you all again on behalf of our branch for the solidarity your branch gave London on M28 with twinning, and for our big dispute on jobs in 2009 when we went all out and branches like yours flooded us with solidarity.

We are following Chesterfield at THC. It would be good if someone from your college wanted to come to THC to meet our members, maybe as part of a tour of London Colleges to talk through what is happening to you. Your dispute is especially significant among many other battles.

At THC we are in multiple disputes in defence of jobs. Support staff are threatened with term time only contracts - a massive pay cut for the less well-off staff. Principals are pushing through the government agenda when they should be standing up to it.

Hackney College down the road has 55FTE. We are joining them for a march this Saturday. Access closure is a key part of the attack there, a needless pre-emptive cut when the FE loans campaign gets going. One we can easily win, no one in the sector thinks this will work.

One dispute at ours is on the imposition of capability, we were told the employer needed another way to 'get rid of us' in addition to the ‘five ways'.

Actually we leave employment via:

1. Death
2. Retirement
3. Resignation
4. Gross misconduct
5. VR

CR would be another way but we resist this, hence a new individualised way is required.

We struck on the day of the pension strike on the 10th of May. It was easier to link the national and local. You can work till you are dead, or work until you are no longer required.

We are going to strike again immediately after half-term against capability. Post-Ofsted this will be the new blunt weapon to heard the sheep toward grade 2 lesson obs and above. It won’t be effective, it will just increase stress. We have called for democratic CPD and more resources to put TnL at the centre of the college.

Our other dispute is over jobs - 22.5FTE (11FTE lecturers).

Among the deletions Teacher Training, counselling certification and Youth work certification for young people.

You absolutely cannot make this stuff up. Renowned as the among the most Outstanding TT team in the country (rated by fOfsted). They are a crack outfit. The cost saving is peanuts but not the point. SMT want us to improve TnL and obs grades while sacking the best people in the sector to do this.

There say the money is not there. We say grow your way out of crisis and stand up for the sector and our students. We won on ESOL and IFL - let's win on this.

We are launching a ballot to defend jobs and will strike on that too.

We are happy to explore ways to further coordinate action with your college and others. We did this in London in 2010 when 11 colleges and 3 uni's struck together over jobs and courses.

Carrot: Defence of community action, practical alternatives and creative thinking to support the community and staff; plus community mobilisation and lobbying government.

Stick: Collective action and a united and national response from the whole union.

We have sent an amendment to FE conference calling for more coordination and campaigns in defence of jobs. Including a day of action.

We have all beat back attacks before, we just have to do it again and we can.

Let us know what we can do.

Best wishes,

Solidarity on behalf of our branch,

Richard McEwan

UCU THC Joint branch sec

NEC