Wolverhampton college strike off after jobs deal

Saturday 19th June 2010, 11:29AM BST.

Strike action due to disrupt Wolverhampton College on Monday over job cuts has been called off after a deal was struck to avoid compulsory redundancies.

The action by members of the University and Colleges Union comes as staff and students across the country protest against funding cuts.

Lecturers at Birmingham’s City College will still walk out.

In Wolverhampton, staff had been facing the threat of job losses affecting up to 160 people as the college deals with a £2.7 million cut in funding for 2010 to 2011.

Paul Polowyj, vice principal for financial planning, said chiefs had worked hard to minimise job losses. “We are pleased that compulsory redundancies will be successfully avoided through voluntary redundancies,” he said.

The union today said it was delighted with the deal.

City College Birmingham is planning to shed 78 posts and close its supported learning division which provides basic English and maths courses for homeless students. The cuts will also affect classes in English for speakers of other languages.

Birmingham Metropolitan College has also announced plans to axe 100 jobs.

View more: Birmingham news, Wolverhampton news.