The UCU branch at the College of North West London (CNWL) is calling for all merger negotiations with the College of Westminster (CoW) to be called off pending a Public Inquiry by the College Corporation into a fraud by college subcontractors.
The college accounts give a sum of £139,000 lost in the fraud but staff calculate that the total could be at least £256,000 and at most £356,000 over two years.
A branch member said:
Indro Sen, the CNWL Branch Secretary, is currently suspended from teaching, but is continuing to represent members.
CNWL UCU members took half day strike action on the 19 January between 8am to 2pm following a 95% yes vote on an ERS ballot for industrial action on a turnout of about 60% ballot return, the dispute dispute being suspension and dismissal threat against the Branch Secretary.
Members also took 1/2 day's strike action on the same day between 2pm to 9pm following a 90% yes vote on a concurrent but separate ERS ballot for industrial action on a turnout of about 54% ballot return, the dispute being compulsory redundancy a member whose internal appeal against compulsory redundancy was heard on the 17 January 2017 and who was represented by Indro Sen her at her hearing.
Both ballots remain live.
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The college accounts give a sum of £139,000 lost in the fraud but staff calculate that the total could be at least £256,000 and at most £356,000 over two years.
A branch member said:
The 78 students who fell victim to this fraud should be offered compensation as well as provision being put in place that is twice as good as before, so that they can fulfil their once held aspiration to further their life chances. Any public enquiry should place them at its heart, some of them have probably been forced to seek employment instead. The majority of them are from the diverse community we serve.The union has posed some key questions over whether steps have been taken to recover the lost monies under its fraud policy and how the college audit committee's monitoring as well as that of the Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted failed to uncover the fraud.
Indro Sen, the CNWL Branch Secretary, is currently suspended from teaching, but is continuing to represent members.
I may be sacked but not silenced. I will keep defending our members in which ever forum they choose to fight and continue to be true to our students and believe the best judge of me remains the trade union movement and my students.A public meeting will take place on Wednesday 24 February from 6pm to 8pm at Willesden Library,. The meeting will focus on trade union victimisation, the merger of the CoW and CNWL as well as the UCU branch's ongoing fraud investigation.
CNWL UCU members took half day strike action on the 19 January between 8am to 2pm following a 95% yes vote on an ERS ballot for industrial action on a turnout of about 60% ballot return, the dispute dispute being suspension and dismissal threat against the Branch Secretary.
Members also took 1/2 day's strike action on the same day between 2pm to 9pm following a 90% yes vote on a concurrent but separate ERS ballot for industrial action on a turnout of about 54% ballot return, the dispute being compulsory redundancy a member whose internal appeal against compulsory redundancy was heard on the 17 January 2017 and who was represented by Indro Sen her at her hearing.
Both ballots remain live.