Staff to lead rally against job cuts at Redbridge Institute of Adult Education

On Friday (11 July) staff and students will demonstrate outside the college at 12.30pm to demand management halts the cuts.

RIAE management is trying to slash jobs, cut student service provision and reduce teaching hours. Management claims the cuts are necessary due to funding pressures. However, UCU, supported by fellow unions Unison, GMB and NEU, said the proposals are unjustified, excessive, and deeply damaging to students and staff. The union also warned the loss of experienced teaching and support staff would harm students and place unsustainable pressure on remaining staff.

UCU has serious concerns about the way the restructure is being managed. It believes the redundancy process is potentially unlawful, and the employer has failed to meet key obligations under Redbridge Council policy, particularly regarding voluntary redundancy and efforts to avoid compulsory job losses.

The cuts unfairly target a small group of frontline staff, while senior and middle management roles are set to be left untouched. Despite repeated calls for transparency, RIAE has refused to freeze all consultancy spending or explain why some senior staff teams were excluded from the restructure process.

The proposed course closures will have a devastating impact on the local community, particularly for those who rely on adult education as a lifeline to employment, independence, and social inclusion. UCU is alarmed that no impact assessment has been carried out to evaluate how the closures will affect learners. There are no plans in place to support those who will be forced to travel to alternative colleges, which, in some cases, do not even offer equivalent courses.

The four unions submitted a detailed counterproposal outlining practical alternatives, including savings on non-staff costs, a phased restructure and voluntary redundancy options. RIAE rejected all calls to negotiate a resolution with the unions, insisting that the formal consultation will continue and that decisions must be finalised before the end of the academic year.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Redbridge Institute's refusal to engage properly with union proposals or take every possible step to avoid compulsory redundancies is deeply disappointing. The threatened cuts will hollow out an essential community institution, and the damage to learners, particularly adults returning to education, will be immense.

'We are calling on local Labour politicians, especially the three Labour councillors who sit on the board of governors, to intervene. If Labour is serious about supporting education and workers, it must not stand by while these destructive cuts go ahead.'