TEN union leaders have demanded that Ruskin College drop all disciplinary proceedings and threats of dismissal against staff after the college sacked a local union figure.

The college in Oxford, which is traditionally associated with workers’ education, has received a letter from 10 union general secretaries expressing “profound concerns” about how college management “appear to be victimising trade union reps from the UCU.”

University and College Union branch officer Lee Humber was sacked last Friday, having been suspended from work a few days after the union’s local branch passed a motion of no confidence in Ruskin principal Paul Di Felice.

Members suspect the college of victimising Mr Humber for his criticism of the management.

The college intends to axe four more posts, a move that UCU has said will end all trade union higher education courses at the institution.

In a Twitter post the UCU branch expressed fears that five more branch representatives will lose their jobs for “questioning the college mismanagement.”

The letter, signed by prominent general secretaries such as Mark Serwotka of Civil Service union PCS, Mick Cash of transport union RMT and Stevie Gillan of prison officers’ union POA, also warns that the college’s action against Mr Humber and his colleagues is “not only wrong in itself but also risks undermining the founding principles of the institution.”

It concludes: “We would ask that you drop all disciplinary proceedings and withdraw threats of redundancy and pursue a constructive approach towards working with UCU reps.

“Otherwise, we stand ready to give our full support and solidarity to members of Ruskin College staff should they move towards taking industrial action.”

Ahead of a meeting with management on Friday, the UCU has warned that it will consider organising a union boycott of Ruskin if the bosses do not back down.

UCU acting general secretary Paul Cottrell said: “Ruskin College makes much of its links to the wider union movement and origins as a workers’ college, which makes the sacking of union reps all the more offensive.

“Staff have made it clear they have no faith in the direction the management is heading, but Ruskin’s response has been to get rid of people trying to highlight the problems.”

Ruskin College said it “absolutely refutes all allegations of victimisation of union reps and would like to reiterate that the ongoing disciplinary investigations are entirely separate from any trade union activity undertaken by those involved.”