Wigan college staff to strike in funding row

Some 66 National Education Union (NEU) members in St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, in Orrell, will be on their fifth day of strike

action on Thursday against 16-19 funding cuts. They will demand more funding for the college.

This will be followed by a further day of industrial action on March 10, a day before the first budget of Boris Johnson's majority government is due to be delivered.

The walkout in St John Rigby is part of a wider strike action including 34 colleges nationwide. In total, 38 per cent of all sixth form colleges and 16-19 academies will be taking action together.

The action on Thursday will include a rally at Parliament Square in Westminster, followed by a march to the Department for Education.

Bora Oktas, NEU North West Regional Officer, said: “Our members are in dispute with the education secretary Gavin Williamson, rather than

St John Rigby College, which provides a highly valued and much needed education service in Wigan.

"However, funding cuts have had a savage impact on pay, conditions and jobs and have driven far too many colleges towards merger or closure.

"We do not want this to happen to St John Rigby College. Our members are calling on the government to invest an extra £700 million into the sector.

"The NEU believes this is needed on top of the £400 million in additional funding promised for 16 to 19 education in August 2019, which Peter Middleman, the union’s regional secretary, has labelled as “grossly inadequate”.

He added: “Our members want to secure the funding to reverse job losses, class size increases, and cuts to teaching time and curriculum provision.

"Otherwise, the future of the sector is bleak and it is students’ education that will continue to suffer.”