UCU members at colleges in Hull, Harrogate, and Goole employed by Hull Colleges Group will strike on Wednesday 9, Thursday 17, and Friday 18 May.
The Hull Colleges Group plans to cut 231 full-time equivalent posts across the three campuses. On 19 April UCU members passed a vote of no confidence in the colleges′ chief executive officer.
Management have also attempted to bully and then bribe staff to not attend a protest against the running of the college. Staff were sent an email the day before telling them that those who joined a lunchtime protest against the job cuts ″risked doing so illegally″. And on the day staff were sent another email inviting them to visit a specially-hired ice cream van offering discounted ice creams! A UCU statement said that “The van was positioned at the opposite end of the campus to the demonstration and there for the duration of the protest.”
UCU estimates that the job cuts will affect about a third of the workforce across the colleges, trash services such as the counselling service, and severely impact students′ learning.
