UCU members at Gateshead College will be striking on Wednesday 10th October, following a successful strike last Thursday when classes were closed, there was good support at all picket lines, drivers hooted support, the National Executive Committee was represented and the mood was upbeat. Richard Bathgate, the branch chair, gave a rousing speech at the following rally
Workload is a key issue, with management requiring 27 class contact hours for lecturers and 33 for ‘facilitators’. This is to misunderstand or ignore the preparation and marking time needed by teachers, not to mention the huge burden of administration which is now put on their shoulders.
Unacceptable changes to conditions of service are being imposed by management. Some lecturers have been downgraded to ‘facilitators’, while others have been given new roles and for six weeks will be on a week’s notice for downgrading if it does not work out.
Picket lines will start at 7:30a.m at the main Baltic campus and all other Gateshead College campuses, which can be found at: http://www.gateshead.ac.uk/find-us/
Please send messages of support to Alison.Richardson@gateshead.ac.uk and richard.bathgate@gateshead.ac.uk