Strike against redundancies at Middlesex University, Tuesday 4 October

Middlesex University plans to cut around 300 posts, spread across academic and admin staff. There are no guarantees at this stage that some of these job losses will not be compulsory. Unison members among admin staff and UCU members among academic staff have voted for a one-day strike in protest against the job cuts. The strike is on Tuesday 4 October (tomorrow, as I write!).

There will be picket lines from 8-10am at the Hendon, Trent Park and Archway campuses.

The students' union is closing its offices in solidarity and has issued the following statement:

MUSU fully supports Unison in its continuing struggle against the cuts. MUSU passed a motion 'Oppose cuts throughout the public sector' on October 20th last year that stated:

'The Union Resolves:

1) To mandate the Students’ Union Executive to oppose all cuts.

2) To work with and support the campus Trade Unions in their struggle against cuts.'

MUSU sabbaticals will be around the picket lines on the day to inform students as to why we are supporting this action.

In Unity

Manojkumar Iyer, President

To send a message of support to the Unison branch, email UNISON1@mdx.ac.uk. The Unison branch has a blog: http://mdxbranchlines.blogspot.com.

To send a message of support to the UCU branch, email the branch secretary John Hammond: J.Hammond@mdx.ac.uk.

I suspect that all universities tend to be little worlds unto themselves, only scarcely integrated with the surrounding area, but last year Barnet trades council did forge links with the students' union, and the campus unions have sent representatives to trades council meetings. I hope we will continue to build this collaboration.

Another Barnet council AGM, another protest

The timing was a coincidence, but this evening I helped to organise a Save Middlesex Philosophy protest outside the Middlesex University Hendon campus on the same night as Barnet council AGM at Hendon Town Hall. We took our banners along there as well.

Middlesex University management, who have taken the short-sighted decision to close the university's very successful philosophy department, are part of the Local Strategic Partnership with Barnet council. There are some tensions with Middlesex University expanding its operations at Hendon; these can only increase if the university follows through on its plans to close the Trent Park campus (chasing those property speculation bucks) and move all courses to Hendon.

Does Barnet want to host a university that is solely focused on business and management students, packed in and taught as cheaply as possible, or can we see some value in having a balanced university that is as famed for its arts subjects as business, economics, etc? We are lucky to have a university in Barnet. Let's have one we can all be proud of. The Save Middlesex Philosophy campaign website is here - find out more and lend your support.

Last year, at this time, we were organising a Save Sheltered Housing Wardens demonstration outside Hendon Town Hall. I think, on balance, that protest caused the police more headaches than this evening's! Barnet sheltered housing features in tonight's (rescheduled) Panorama programme. (I'll have to watch it tomorrow on the internet as I'm finishing some work now.)

Pics from tonight's protest above. The man in the second picture is Middlesex University Vice-Chancellor Michael Driscoll. In the third picture, you can just see Barnet's chief exec Nick Walkley, coming out to check that we aren't about to storm the Town Hall and upset the mayor's canapes!