AROUND 150 lecturers are to stage a funeral march to “mourn” new contracts which they fear could bring about the death of Liverpool Community College.
The morbid march will see the angry lecturers dress in black and carry a real coffin from the college’s art centre in Myrtle Street through the city centre.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Post last night, union officials organising the unorthodox demonstration revealed lecturers will also publicly burn their contracts.
They say the new conditions have created a two-tier workforce at the college and threaten its ability to sustain its current Grade 1 Ofsted status.
The row surrounds a new wage structure introduced by the college in August.
The University and College Union claim the new employment conditions effectively mean all new lecturers joining the college are subject to a wage cap barring them from earning more than £29,000 a year – around £3,000 less than before – unless they take on additional administration or managerial responsibilities.
The lecturers taking part in Friday’s lunchtime “funeral” procession, which finishes at The Casa bar, on Hope Street, are also furious the college has only implemented a 1.5% annual increase on their wages – with the UCU claiming principal Maureen Mellor and other senior managers receive an average 6% yearly rise.
The college’s UCU liaison secretary, Nina Doran, said the double whammy had deflated staff and put the college’s ability to maintain its high standards in jeopardy.
She said: “We will be mourning the new contracts during the funeral procession.
“The reason we are up in arms about the new contracts is they mean the college is now home to staff who feel like they are second-class lecturers, and are faced with a situation where we have two sets of staff being paid different amounts to do the same job.”
She added: “With the pay situation as well, we think things are getting worse and will inevitably mean a drop in quality. We feel as if this is the end of an era, and the ability to maintain our status as an outstanding college will die.”
