STAFF at the Blackstock Road Finsbury Park campus of the Capital City College Group walked out yesterday for the third day of strike action, picketing from 8am in defence of their jobs and working conditions.
The dispute centres on 45 compulsory redundancies the college is pushing through, against a backdrop of what staff describe as a deepening crisis in further education funding.
The branch is also balloting for renewed strike action in September.
Jo Payne, the UCU branch secretary, said the timing of the action, on a GCSE exam day, reflected the seriousness of the threat to the college’s future.
‘We are striking on a GCSE day to uphold our rights. Our college is facing the most difficult future it has ever had. We’re taking this action for our students,’ she said.
‘We are balloting for strike action in September because they are enforcing 45 compulsory redundancies.
‘I have worked here for 20 years. We have never faced this before.
‘The processes they are using are based on money not education,’ Payne added.
Staff, she said, had produced detailed counter-proposals showing why the cuts should be withdrawn.
‘We have worked very hard to produce counter-proposals which are professionally written and highly substantiated and clearly demonstrate that they should withdraw these cuts.’
Heather Mcpherson, who has lectured at the college for more than twenty years, said, ‘the management should be defending education not attacking teachers.
‘It has never been as bad. We could do with national action by the UCU and other trade unions.’
Thursday’s walkout is the third in a year, following strikes in December 2025, January 2026 and earlier this month.
‘They are squeezing education away,’ one lecturer said on the picket line. ‘We would prefer to be inside supporting our students.’
Another pointed to a widening gap between staff pay and executive rewards.
‘The directors get bonuses every year. When we get a pay rise it’s very little. They don’t want to pay us properly. It’s about making money for the business.’
