The Brent Green Group of Councillors stands in full solidarity with the workers at Woodfield School in their fight against fire and rehire.

Brent Green Group of Councillors has issued the following statement ahead of Wednesday's 'Mega Picket' at Woodfield school.

  

The Brent Green Group of Councillors stands in full solidarity with the workers at Woodfield School in their fight against fire and rehire.

 

The decision by Compass Learning Partnership to issue 47 staff with fire-and-rehire notices is shameful. These are workers who support some of the most vulnerable children in Brent.

 

This dispute raises serious questions about priorities. Whilst support staff are being threatened with dismissal for refusing cuts worth hundreds of pounds a month, the Trust has faced questions over executive pay and financial management. The advertised salary for its CEO role was up to £139,891, yet low-paid frontline workers are being told they must accept worse terms and conditions.

 

We are deeply disappointed that the Labour government has failed to deliver on its promises to working people. Nearly two years into office, workers are still being threatened with fire and rehire while ministers offer little more than warm words. No school worker should face losing their livelihood for refusing to accept a pay cut. Labour has also shown no serious willingness to confront the structural failures of the academy system, which concentrates power in the hands of unelected trusts and leaves staff and communities with little meaningful accountability.

 

The academy system was sold as a way to improve education. Instead, too often it has created opaque structures where highly paid executives make decisions over the heads of staff, parents and local communities. The Green Party opposes the academy model and supports bringing schools back into a democratically accountable local authority system. Education is a public service, not a business opportunity. Yet Labour has chosen to retain the academy system, making only minor changes whilst leaving its fundamental problems intact.

 

We call on Compass Learning Partnership to withdraw the fire-and-rehire notices immediately and return to meaningful negotiations with staff and trade unions. We also call on the government to finally ban fire and rehire and begin reversing the marketisation of our education system.

 

The Brent Green Group will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the workers at Woodfield School.