Sussex Downs College Strike Against Staff Cuts

By Phil Clarke, Secretary Lewes, Eastbourne and Wealden NUT

On Thursday 24th May NUT members took determined and solid strike action against cuts to teachers' and lecturers' jobs at Sussex Downs College. There was no evidence that any classes ran at all at Park College, the Eastbourne campus organised by the NUT, and public support was very much on display - one car even pulling over to hand out boxes of ice lollies bought for the pickets! This is all the more remarkable as now no Park members face compulsory redundancy, but while some NUT members still face reductions in hours it was very much felt that 'an injury to one is an injury to all' and this could not be accepted by the union.

Sussex Downs College is making a 10% reduction in staffing as funding cuts and the scrapping of EMA have lead to fewer students and less money. This means fewer teachers, teaching more hours and students getting less lesson time. The NUT, supported by the NASUWT, has made it clear that these cuts will be fought and if management do not back down over cuts to our members further action will be scheduled. We also hope that the undoubted success of the strike will give UCU, who organise the other campuses, confidence to do the same; the only disappointment of the day was that the strike was not across every one of the college's campuses.

Beyond Sussex Downs, the strike has shown that strong school or campus based union organisation is vital to protect teachers conditions. The confidence and determination displayed by NUT members here will be a signal to teachers across East Sussex suffering under increasing pressure and workload that we can strike back.

Local Elections 2012 - Legitimacy of Cameron and Clegg further shattered

Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party general secretary

Austerity rejected, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge)

The Con-Dem government suffered a crushing defeat in last Thursday's elections for local authorities and in the mayoral contests apart from London.

The Tories lost a total of 405 seats, the Liberal Democrats lost 336 seats, while Labour gained 823 seats.

The share of the vote put Labour at 38%, the Tories at 31% and the Liberal Democrats at 16%. Cameron cannot dismiss these results, as he has tried to do, as an example of 'mid-term blues', something which all governments experience.

The tide of opposition to the coalition's policies - particularly its programme of austerity and accompanying cuts - has shattered the legitimacy of Cameron and his partner in crime, Clegg.

Cameron even saw Labour councillors elected in his own rural backyard of Chipping Norton, where even the local burghers rose up against the Tories against the arbitrary imposition of the building of an unwanted local road.

Equally, the shattered and discredited Liberal Democrats were humiliated when a penguin - Professor Pongo, the disguise of a local climate activist - defeated a Liberal Democrat candidate in Edinburgh!

This anti-government tsunami seemed to sweep all before it, touching all corners of Britain. In Wales, Labour gained and the Welsh nationalists of Plaid Cymru - despite selecting a radical leader recently - lost out.

A Scottish National Party 'surge' - where they expected to win a majority in Glasgow City Council - never fully materialised. 'Murdochgate' probably politically damaged the SNP, with its leader, Alex Salmond, exposed as a collaborator - writing a regular column in the Scottish Sun - with the unspeakable Rupert Murdoch.

In the North, where the Tories are already an endangered species, the tide further eroded the few positions that they hold. In Liverpool, for instance, they came seventh in the mayoral contest!

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