BOSSES of London Met University were yesterday accused of acting like ‘19th century mill owners’ at a rally outside the Holloway Road campus in north London, attended by over 100 lecturers, union leaders and students.
Respect MP George Galloway, whose constituency covers part of the university, attended the rally, along with leaders of the University and College Union (UCU), who announced a boycott of the university until the UCU is recognised there and compulsory redundancies of lecturers are withdrawn.
George Galloway read out a letter that he wrote to Vice-Chancellor Brian Roper on June 29, which said: ‘I am shocked by your decision to, in effect, derecognise the lecturers UCU union at London Metropolitan University.
‘This institution, which is a critical resource for large numbers of school leavers and mature students in Tower Hamlets and elsewhere, can ill afford to lose 60 lecturers.
‘That those redundancies are compulsory aggravates the injustice.
‘That the university’s management has set itself apart from every other higher education institution in the country by now refusing to discuss the job losses with recognised union representatives is an outrage.’
Galloway said that, as yet, he had received ‘no reply’ to his letter.
‘What century do these people think we’re in?’ he asked.
UCU President-elect Sasha Callaghan said: ‘You’re not on your own in this dispute.’
She said she had attended a ‘very, very angry’ public meeting of Harlow College lecturers last Friday ‘about the excesses happening there’.
She said the bosses of London Met and Harlow ‘seem to be like evil twins within our sector’, adding: ‘This is like standing outside a 19th century mill with the mill owners inside.’
Students union vice-president Noreen Fatima brought her support and leaders of the UCU at London Met announced that a strike ballot will begin next week.
