Information bulletin from NATFHE, the Lecturers’ Union at the Community College, Hackney - 20 March 2005.
Stop the Redundancies,
Save Adult and Further Education in Hackney
Hackney Community College lecturers are demanding the resignation of the college principal after management handed out more than 50 redundancies to lecturers.
Departments hit include:
• Adult Literacy and Numeracy
• Special Needs teaching
• Teacher Training
• British Sign Language
• Secretarial Skills
• Business Studies
• Ceramics
• Dance and Drama
• Health and Fitness
These redundancies were announced:
• Without adequate consultation with staff about the job losses and their impact on the education of Hackney students.
• The same week the college was selected as a Centre of Vocational Excellence. (1)
• Despite the college’s success in achieving above average academic and vocational results last year.
• Regardless of successful teaching inspections during the spring term.
Members of NATFHE, the lecturers’ union at the Community College held an emergency meeting of more than 120 lecturers on Friday 18 March as the cuts were announced.
Natfhe Branch Secretary John Barber said:
“We are determined to fight this attack on the educational prospects of young and adults in Hackney and on our members’ jobs.
“We know we will have the support of Hackney students, community organisations, residents and trade unionists in our fight."
The meeting determined to take strike action on Thursday April 7th to defend jobs and stop course closures. The meeting unanimously called on the College Principal to resign forthwith.
NATFHE appeals to trade unionists, community organisations and residents to take immediate action to support this fight to save jobs and educational opportunities by:
• Sending messages of support to Maggie Carmen, NATFHE, Hackney Community College, Falkirk St, London N1 6HQ e-mail c/o mcarman@comm-coll-hackney.ac.uk [1]
• Donating to the union Fighting Fund:
cheques payable to Hackney Community College, NATFHE
• Write to the Chair of Governors as above.
• Write or lobby local MPs Brian Sedgemore and Diane Abbott
Background
On Friday March 18th, the last day of term before Easter, lecturers in almost every college department were summoned to meetings and told they were redundant.
NATFHE, the lecturers’ trade union, shocked by these secretive tactics, quickly convened a meeting of over 120 lecturers and unanimously condemned college management for failing to give them prior notification of these redundancies.
The meeting revealed that between 50 and 60 teachers of Adult Literacy and Numeracy, Special Needs courses, Business Studies, Secretarial Skills, Teacher Training, Ceramics, Dance and Drama Health and Fitness had been given notices of redundancy.
Angry staff unanimously voted no confidence in Chrissie Farley, the Principal, and called for her immediate resignation. Lecturers agreed that while there is chronic under-funding of the further education sector, what is needed is a management that will fight alongside lecturers and support staff to defend jobs and students’ opportunities. The meeting also voted to strike as early as possible after Easter, and then marched en masse to the management’s offices to protest at their treatment.
The Community College has been in financial difficulties since the beginning of college year when management announced its intention to get rid of up to 71 teaching and non-teaching posts. Since October numbers of experienced staff have taken voluntary redundancy or early retirement in the hope of this preventing compulsory redundancies. It clearly has not.
Besides the impact on staff’s livelihoods, sackings on this scale cannot fail to damage the education and training provision available to the people of Hackney, one of London’s most deprived areas with a level of unemployment significantly above average.
These sackings follow successful teaching inspections this term, the college’s nomination as a Centre of Vocational Excellence and students achieving above average academic and vocational results last year. Teaching staff feel their professionalism and commitment has been demonstrated.
It is not understood how the college will be more ‘efficient’ if staff pay with their jobs for failures not of their making. Lecturers will not accept that the way out of the college’s current financial problems is to sack people.
Notes
1) The Centres of Vocational Excellence programme is central to the Learning and Skills Council's task of improving skills for employment and national competitiveness. The programme will enable the development, maintenance and delivery of high quality, specialist provision across a range of vocational areas
More details here [2].