Lecturers' union Natfhe is to ballot on strike action at two colleges that are facing redundancies. This week Chester College's Natfhe branch voted to ballot for a strike, just days after the branch at Ripon and York St John made a unanimous decision to call for a strike. It is understood that both colleges intend to make three or four redundancies each. Natfhe regional official Adrian Jones said: "We are now clearly in the era of the throw-away lecturer."