University and college staff rally tomorrow against education cuts

Attendees will meet at Bessborough Gardens, London SW1V 2JE at 1pm and march to Old Palace Yard for speeches by UCU general secretary Jo Grady, UCU president Maxine Looby, NUS president Amira Campbell, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP, Educational Institute of Scotland general secretary Andrea Bradley, and staff from universities and colleges being hit with cuts.

The rally comes after the Office for Students confirmed it expects almost half of universities to face financial deficits by Summer.  

UCU has already raised the alarm that over 10,000 higher education jobs are at risk. In response to the threatened cuts its members were on strike this week at the University of East Anglia and Keele, Newcastle and Sheffield universities; last week at Durham and Birmingham City universities; have declared an academic boycott at Brunel University; and are currently balloting for strike action at Edinburgh and Bournemouth universities.

In further education, the union is demanding pay parity with schoolteachers; national workload agreements; and functioning national bargaining. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Education workers from across the UK will come together to march through Westminster tomorrow to take a stand against bosses forcing through drastic cuts, and to demand the government starts protecting the sector.'