SNP accused of ‘insulting’ lack of support for City of Glasgow College workers

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SNP failure to support City of Glasgow College workers’ ongoing fight against cuts and redundancies was branded an insult by Scottish Labour today.

The £200,000-a-year college principal Paul Little proposed to cut 100 teaching jobs — a third of the workforce — at the college earlier this year.

Plans were put on ice over the summer after a 19-day strike, but workers announced they will strike again in September after bosses restarted the process for selecting staff for redundancy.

Labour criticised Higher & Further Education Minister Graeme Dey after he failed to state how he would act to save jobs in a letter to Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP.

Ms Duncan-Glancy, Labour’s education spokeswoman, had called on him to use the Scottish government’s powers to audit the situation at the college — but he has not.

This has effectively choked the available budget for the college as it fails to keep up with inflation, putting dozens of jobs on the line and forcing cuts across the board, according to Scottish Labour.

She said: “The lack of responsibility shown by minister Dey throughout this entire dispute is shocking.

“Hundreds of college staff are facing forced job losses, but his response amounts to little more than saying: There is nothing we can do.

“Mr Dey seems to have forgotten that he is a minister, not a commentator. Scottish Labour called for auditors to be brought in to assess the situation at City of Glasgow College but so far the SNP government has failed to make that happen.

“This is simply not good enough and is frankly an insult to staff who have been left waiting in limbo for months while their livelihoods are put on the line.

“The SNP must stop skirting this issue and get round the negotiating table with City of Glasgow College to see what action can be taken to prevent such a devastating cut to the college.”

Members of teaching union EIS-FELA plan to return to the picket lines as students return to the college next month. Strikes are set for September 5-8, 11-14, 19-21 and 26 -29.

A college spokesman said: “It doesn’t make any sense to go out on local strikes on a national funding issue, as it can’t change anything.”

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