UCU also showed their film ‘day in the life’.

“Thanks for attending today.

You may or may not know that over £1bn has been cut from higher education budgets for the next three years already, thousands of jobs [...]]]> The UCU and NUS branches here ran events in tandem, including speakers and a recruitment stall.

UCU also showed their film ‘day in the life’.

“Thanks for attending today.

You may or may not know that over £1bn has been cut from higher education budgets for the next three years already, thousands of jobs have already gone, and thousands more are at risk. For the first time in decades the education system is shrinking and the barriers to access are rising. Current and future generations are at risk of being locked out of our education system.

Today’s action is in preparation for the Lib-Con coalition emergency budget tomorrow, which will undoubtedly see attacks on public sector pay and pensions in the name of the ‘national debt’, a crisis brought on by de-regulated financial markets.

UCU have recruited over 20,400 new members since the crash began to hit, in 2008. Staff and students have now united in an unprecedented sector-wide coalition to oppose the cuts. UCU, NUS, GMB, ATL, EIS, Unite and Unison, have all come together for education.

Our colleagues are running all kinds of different events all around the country, have a look at the website to see the wide range of events, from the serious (strike action) to the silly (a conga against cuts).

My ex-colleagues at Bradford College were due to be on strike today, but it was announced this morning that they have suspended plans for action because the union has secured a redundancy agreement with the college, following an announcement of job losses earlier this year. The union said today that is was delighted with a victory which it attributes to strong collective action by UCU members and the skill and diligence of its local negotiators (i.e. its regional representatives).

I often hear apathetic rather than hostile responses to union activism, ‘what’s the point’, etc and yet this is one of the many examples where action has yielded an agreement with the institution. 
 
Our situation at Hereford College of Arts, so far, is quite different. We have an upturn in HE funding of 8.5% for next year, although the picture for FE is more mixed. Yet we roll into the emergency budget already outside of the progressive pay frameworks advised by the UCU and the Association of Colleges, of which Hereford College of Art is a member. These were implemented in 2003/4.

So, having a UCU branch here is very important, although I hope – I would like to think – that serious activism will continue to be unnecessary here. However, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Dawn, our FE rep and all of our branch members for their support and commitment here, our regional reps are always impressed by the turnout at branch meetings when they visit. What we do here as a branch is crucial to continue through the troubling period which has just begun.

I’d now like to show a very short new film on the range of work carried out by the UCU.

Thanks for your patience.

University staff protest over plan to cut education funding

STAFF at Bristol’s two universities have warned Chancellor George Osborne that further cuts to education funding [...]]]> Union members from the two universities in Bristol held a mass rally at the to institutions. A great turnout was followed by local media coverage in the Evening Post:

University staff protest over plan to cut education funding

STAFF at Bristol’s two universities have warned Chancellor George Osborne that further cuts to education funding will have a serious impact on the city.

On the eve of today’s Budget, unions staged demonstrations at both the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England.

They were among staff and students at more than 70 colleges and universities who took part in protests yesterday over plans to cut university funding by over £1.2 billion, and adult learning by over £200 million.

The campaigners say higher education has been hit by financial restraints and further curbs will hit current and future students and also the local and national economy.

The seven unions campaigning under the banner United for Education want Mr Osborne to protect university funding and put education at the heart of the economic recovery.

They say slashing the education budget could create a “lost generation of learners”.

There are fears that thousands of young people will miss out on going to university this year because applications have reached a record level, but only 10,000 extra places have been available.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said: “Nearly one million young people are not in education, employment or training, and over 200,000 qualified applicants could miss out on a university place this year.

“Anyone who thinks that cuts won’t massively impact on the quality of education in the country is living in a dream world.”

Six thousand people, from cleaners to professors, work at Bristol University, and 3,400 at UWE.

Both centres have seen voluntary redundancies already and expect to see more jobs go.

Further education, at colleges such as City of Bristol and Filton, and adult education classes have also been hit.

James Annett, of UCU at Bristol University, said the demonstration in Park Row yesterday was aiming to raise awareness of the impact that cutting higher and further education funding would have.

“This is just the start of what might well be a long campaign,” he said.

At Bristol and at UWE, the main unions involved in the protest were UCU, Unison and Unite.

More than 600 people at UWE have signed a petition in support of the campaign, delivered to Vice Chancellor Professor Steve West.

Mike Hines, of Unison at UWE, said cutbacks at the university would affect the local economy. He said the campaigners believed education was vital so that people would continue to have the skills and knowledge needed.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “Times are very tough and so it is not possible to exclude higher education and further education from the need for public expenditure savings, but the Government is committed to protecting front-line services for students and learners.”