Greenock Telegraph
COLLEGE bosses still plan to sack 70 lecturers — even though they're set to get over £2.4 million extra cash next year.
Crisis-hit James Watt College will get a 10.8 per cent rise in cash from the Scottish Funding Council.
But bosses still want 70 compulsary redundancies and to impose new conditions on staff.
And if the unions don't accept the package, all lecturing staff could be axed and rehired on new terms.
EIS union branch secretary Alan Ferguson said: "Their reason to cut jobs is to generate a huge profit and most colleges are not operating on that basis.
"Will this new funding change the minds of management? I suspect not.
"But a rise of 10.8 per cent is going to be a really good increase. I would call on them, in light of the figures, to withdraw their threats to sack one in five lecturers."
A spokeswoman for the SFC said: "A college has to show they're doing what they said they were going to do in student numbers and provision, and that they're spending the money to meet their own targets and giving value for money. How they achieve that is up to them." The combined cash from the SFC and student fees will give the college an extra £2.4m.
James Watt College said there was no-one available to comment this week.
• SOCIALIST MSP Frances Curran welcomed a unanimous call by the STUC annual conference in Perth for an urgent investigation into the management of James Watt College.
Ms Curran pledged "100 per cent support" for STUC demands that college staff jobs and conditions be protected.
And revealed that she had written to Scottish Executive minister Nicol Stephen urging him to investigate the actions of the principal and board.
