Climate Campers Support Tower Hamlets Strike

  Climate Campers join the pickets at Tower Hamlets College to show their solidarity with the UCU members on strike there.

  Tower Hamlets College works with some of the most underprivileged communities in London and UCU has said that it is deeply concerned about the impact the job losses and cuts to key social programmes will have on the local area. As a result of funding cuts by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) places for students looking to learn key skills in subjects such as English and maths will be slashed from 2,944 to 1,349 in 2009/10.
 
UCU said the planned cuts fly in the face of new government initiatives which call on local authorities to prioritise English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and fund courses for vulnerable and hard to reach groups. The union warned that essential courses which allow students to progress to the higher level English classes are precisely those which are being cut.

  UCU members have voted for indefinite strike action to fight managements plans. Activists from the Climate Camp joined students and teachers on the picket lines this morning to express their commitment to wider social struggles and their solidarity with the workers at ToweHamlets College.