One day strike by lecturers today at London Metropolitian University

Today there is a one-day strike by lecturers at London Metropolitan University, with picket lines outside the campus buildings in Holloway Road, Aldgate East,Moorgate in and Whitechapel.

There will also be a rally from 1pm to 2pm in Holloway Road.

The strike is protesting 550 proposed job cuts, taking place after the revelation earlier this year that the university recieved over £50 million in funding it was not entitled to after inflating the numbers of students attending the university in the past four years, by failing to report some students dropping out.

Vice-Chancellor Brian Roper resigned in March but will remain on the payroll until the end of the year, according to the East London Advertiser.

A Universities and College Union (UCU) ballot on Thursday 30 April found that 64 percent voted for strike action and 71 percent voted for action short of a strike.

According to the UCU, the cuts will mean, among other things, the dismissal of up to a quarter of the staff, libraries short-staffed and possibly closed, several courses closed and many others severely hit, outsourcing of IT and Media support, restrictions on module choices and less contact time with staff.

The UCU demand that there is a thorough investigation into the current financial crisis, no redundancies, a thorough and independent review of current governance and no victimisation of union members.

You can follow the protests against job cuts on the Save London Met Uni blog.

According to the Islington Tribune, a march is planned on 23 May, leaving Highbury Fields at 11am and ending in Tower Building, Holloway Road.

The UCU also highlight the successful campaign to force Doncaster College in South Yorkshire to reconsider cutting 160 jobs, implying that the same could happen in London Met.

I wonder why those involved in the deception aren't being forced to pay back the money, rather than innocent people losing their jobs.

The UK's further education sector has some really bad management, and in many universities people at the top get away with running them into the ground.