The Socialist 11 November 2009

Fight for real jobs and free education

End the war in Afghanistan: Bring the troops back now!

Socialism 2009: An excellent weekend!

Postal workers force management back

Unison witch-hunt: Defend the Four campaign gets a boost

RMT conference on political representation

20 years after fall of Berlin Wall, capitalist triumphalism turns rotten

General Motors - no to 'divide and rule' in Germany

Ireland: 90,000 march against government cuts

United Socialist Party congress delegates defy difficult conditions in Sri Lanka

Leeds bin strike - week ten

London bus strike

Strikes force concessions

Steelworkers get organised and score a victory over bonus payments

Fujitsu

College strike

Big business fights for fees: Students must fight back

Internationally young people fight for their rights

Reclaim the game by John Reid

Anti-fascists tactics - What happened in Newport?

Previous issues, etc

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College strike

UCU members at Barnsley college are fighting pay cuts and increased workload. Strike action took place on 3 and 5 November.

There is a proposal to give lecturers a more managerial role within the college - thereby spending less time interacting with students and planning effective lessons. A 37-hour contract previously consisted of 21 hours of teaching, and 16 hours of marking, lesson preparation and organisation. Today, the contract is made up of 24 hours teaching per week, plus one cover lesson.

Giving lecturers titles such as 'course leader' or 'associate teacher' will mean cuts of £10,000 - 12,000 per year. Staff would also have an increased workload. This is, ultimately, demotion.

So far, six staff have been affected by these changes. A-level staff have been informed they 'won't be affected', but to many it seems inevitable.

As one lecturer described it, lecturers are 'at the coalface' of college life - interacting directly with students and teaching is the backbone of everything.

Further strike action is planned for the end of November.