Staff at the Hull College Group will walk out on Wednesday over plans to slash jobs, with 231 full-time equivalent posts across the college group’s three campuses under threat.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the college’s Hull and Harrogate campuses will be on picket lines from 7am and in Hull, striking staff at the Cannon Street and Queens Gardens sites will run a programme of teach-outs, with activities ranging from Tai Chi and cookery to plumbing and motor vehicle checks.

UCU says the proposals would lead to around a third of the workforce being cut and fewer learning opportunities for local people. A further two days of strike action are planned for Thursday 17 and Friday 18 May. Union members have also delivered a vote of no confidence in the college group’s chief executive Michelle Swithenbank.

‘A last resort’

UCU regional official, Julie Kelley, said: “Strike action is always a last resort, but staff at the Hull College Group feel they have been left with no alternative in order to defend jobs and educational opportunities.

“The proposed job cuts will be deeply damaging for current students and for the future availability of education for local people. To avoid further unnecessary disruption to students, the college needs to call an urgent halt to these proposals and work with UCU to explore better alternatives.”

In the recent strike ballot, 79 per cent of the staff who voted at the college’s three campuses in Hull, Harrogate and Goole backed strike action.