REDUNDANCY GAGGING ORDER AT WEYMOUTH COLLEGE (South Dorset Liberal Democrats)

South Dorset Liberal Democrats <info@southdorsetlibdems.org.uk>

REDUNDANCY GAGGING ORDER AT WEYMOUTH COLLEGE

April 30, 2010 10:11 PM
By Ros Kayes to Dorset echo

REDUNDANCY GAGGING ORDER AT WEYMOUTH COLLEGE

Furious relatives of employees at Weymouth college have been raising questions with South Dorset's Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, Ros Kayes about the way in which redundancy notices have been sent to staff , including lecturers at the college, requiring them not to speak to the media.

"Staff have been told" said Ms Kayes, an FE specialist & former head of department at Yeovil College in Somerset, "that they will have to reapply for their jobs, that they will need higher qualifications to do the same job, and that the new contracts will not allow them paid holidays."

"But the worst thing - is that they have been threatened that if they contact the media they will not be considered if they reapply for their own job !. This is an outrage. It's one thing to make cuts & restructure financially- - although I can tell you that when this happened at Yeovil college in the late 1990s it caused havoc - it's another to prevent people from telling the truth about what's happening. It's an abuse of power."

"I am full of praise for the college in the way it has sought to expand vocational education, especially in it's development of business incubation centres & its support for the university of Dorset, but treating staff like this in a recession is totally out of order.

"We already have higher education having places capped by the government & struggling to fit in 60,000 extra students that have applied this year. Both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives have said they are going to increase funding for apprenticeships & we have said we will be funding 15,000 more college based foundation degrees & more level 2 & level 3 qualifications for adults as well as 16-18 year olds. It's shortsighted to cut staff now when there will most likely be a boost in funding.