Showing posts with label strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strike. Show all posts

Sunday 26 November 2023

Lyon Park Primary management coming to the table with new proposals tomorrow (Monday). Petition launched in support of strikers,

 

Lyon Park Primary School strikers appeared to be in good spirits and showing strong solidarity on the fifth day of their strike over worsening conditions of service as a result of a staff restructuring.

The school management is expected to come to the negotiating table with fresh proposals on Monday morning in an effort to reach a settlement.  

If these don't succeed I understand there will be an approach to ACAS on Wednesday.

When I spoke to parents outside the school last week during a leafleting session aimed at informing them of the impact of the restructure, they were keen to say how much they appreciated the work of support staff.  Many talked about the good relationship between staff and pupils, and between parents and the support staff. They told me about the support their children received and how important it was to children with special educational needs or those new to the country at an early stage of leaning English.  They acknowledged the impact of the strike on them and their children but also saw that short-term hurt was better than the long-term damage that would follow if the staff did not stand up against the changes.  Support staff were an important part of the local community.

Lyon Park staff took their struggle to Westminster on Wednesday, Autumn Statement day, when they spoke to an NEU Rally calling for an increase in school funding. Inadequate school funding in the face of rising costs is at the heart of the budget crisis in many London schools, including Lyon Park.

 


A petition has been launched calling on governors to not cut pay and change working conditions:


Dear Governors, 


We are signing this petition to ask you to value our experienced support staff at Lyon Park and to ask you NOT to cut their pay and not to force teaching assistants to cover  [teacher absence] if they are not paid as a higher level teaching assistan
t.

 

 SIGN HERE



Tuesday 21 November 2023

Third day of strike at Lyon Park School to save support staff jobs and pay. Supporting strikers petition launched.

 From Brent National Education Union

 

This morning's picket line


NEU members at Lyon Park Primary School are to strike in a fight to save support staff jobs which are proposed to go in a huge restructure. PICKET LINE OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY THIS WEEK 7.45-9.30am!

 

Staff at Lyon Park Primary School will be on strike to save the jobs and pay of their hardworking support staff. Many of these long-serving staff served the school’s community throughout the pandemic and face their jobs either being axed or a situation of “fire and rehire” to drop their pay. Teachers face a loss of support in the classroom and children will lose out on the vital support they need. The school has cited budget difficulties as the reason for the cuts.

 

100% OF NEU MEMBERS WHO VOTED IN THE BALLOT FOR STRIKE ACTION AT THE SCHOOL VOTED TO STRIKE OVER MULTIPLE DATES THIS MONTH WITH TWO MORE DAYS ANNOUNCED NEXT WEEK AND THREE THE WEEK AFTER!

 

Staff and their supporters will protest at a picket line outside the school from 7.45am Tuesday and will continue to try to negotiate with the governors in a bid to reach an agreement. The union has twice attended extra talks with the school management but this has so far failed to address the huge proposed loss in pay for staff. The Executive Headteacher has only recently joined the restructuring talks.

 

Jenny Cooper of the NEU national executive has stated:

 

This isn’t rocket science- if the school agrees to protect staff pay in the restructure, the strikes will be called off. Staff do not enjoy striking- teachers enjoy teaching and support staff enjoy supporting children. If they didn’t they could all get better paid jobs elsewhere!!! Our members should be valued for the highly specialised jobs they do.

 

In the video below the staff explain their contribution to the school and children's education. Outside the school yesterday many parents agreed that the staff were essential to enable their children to make good progess.


 

SIGN A PETITION TO SUPPORT THE STRIKERS HERE

 

Tuesday 14 November 2023

Barry Gardiner joins picket line as Lyon Park Primary School closed by strike against pay cuts

 

Lyon Park Primary School was closed today as National Education Union members went on strike to oppose wage cuts that the management want to impose on some staff as part of a restructure.

Brent North MP, Barry Gardiner, visited the picket line and told the spirited strikers:

Thank God you've got a union that actually supports you! All support to you.

It's great that you have the NEU backing you in this dispute. I know it is tough but stick it out.

Actually, you see time and time again that you win because when the union backs you, you keep on going - build the solidarityand that will mean ultimately you can win this dispute.

 

Monday 13 November 2023

Following talks failure Lyon Park Primary School strikes are back on - the first tomorrow and more next week

The concessions made by Lyon Park Primary School that led to the suspension of planned strikes over the staffing restructure have not been sufficient according to Brent NEU and so strikes are back on.

More talks took place during the suspension period but did not settle the issue in which at least five members of staff  expect to lose up to £4,500 pay a year as a result of the restructure.  The NEU say that in addition teaching assistants are being required to undertake unacceptable levels of cover.

NEU members at the school have voted to continue their action and will be on strike Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. There was an 83% turnout in the ballot of whom 100% voted to strike.

Monday 6 November 2023

BREAKING: Lyon Park Primary strike suspended pending talks

 Lyon Park Primary strike action has been suspended because the cCuncil stepped in and agreed to fund all the voluntary redundancies applied for and has agreed to facilitate talks, starting tomorrow, to resolve all the other issues. 

 

The NEU will go ahead with the dates of strike action next week if these talks do not resolve the outstanding matters.


Friday 3 November 2023

NEU refuse to accept job losses and 'fire and rehire' of frontline workers at Lyon Park Primary School and will strike on Tuesday

 


 From Brent Branch of the Natioaal Education Union (NEU)

 

NEU members at Lyon Park Primary School are to strike in a fight to save support staff jobs which are proposed to go in a huge restructure. PICKET LINE OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL TUESDAY 7TH NOVEMBER 7.30-10am!

 

Staff at Lyon Park Primary School will be on strike to save the jobs and pay of their hardworking support staff. Many of these long-serving staff served the school’s community throughout the pandemic and face their jobs either being axed or a situation of “fire and rehire” to drop their pay. Teachers face a loss of support in the classroom and children will lose out on the vital support they need. The school has cited budget difficulties as the reason for the cuts. Ironically the school now has an expensive Executive Headteacher, who has not appeared at any of the restructure meetings to date and has not attempted any talks with unions.

 

100% OF NEU MEMBERS WHO VOTED IN THE BALLOT FOR STRIKE ACTION AT THE SCHOOL VOTED TO STRIKE OVER MULTIPLE DATES THIS MONTH.

 

Staff and their supporters will protest at a picket line outside the school from 7.30am Tuesday and will continue to try to negotiate with the governors in a bid to reach an agreement. Staff have shown willingness to accept voluntary redundancies but after a call for applications, the school have now said they cannot accept the applications.

 

Jenny Cooper of the NEU National Executive stated:

 

These striking members are the people who were on the Brent frontline in the pandemic; these are key workers, supporting vulnerable families and working daily with children from the Wembley and Alperton communities. They undertake difficult jobs every day and have expertise and knowledge that should be valued in our schools. If we can afford big sums for executive school leaders, we can afford to retain the pay of our frontline staff, and to fund those that request voluntary redundancy. The NEU will NOT accept fire and rehire and we remain hopeful the school will reach an agreement with us to resolve this dispute in which case the action could be suspended

Thursday 6 July 2023

Brent teachers strike for fully-funded pay increase

 

 

Members of the National Education Union in London went out on strikefor a fully-funded pay increase in large numbers yesterday with some schools closed. 

Brent NEU members were featured in an ITN London News bulletin explaining their case.

'Fully-funded' is a demand that the government increases school budget to enable schools to pay the increase without causing cuts and redundancies.  Teachers do not want to get an increase at the expense of worsening education provision and redundancies amongst poorly paid,  but vital,   largely female, support staff.

A considerable number of Brent schools are facing deficit budgets already and a failure to  achieve full-funding will worsen the crisis. Restructuring of staff, creating voluntary redundacies is taking place across the borough.

At the same time the deteriorating salaries and conditions of service of staff, during a cost of living crisis. means that teachers are leaving the profession in droves and management faces huge difficulties in  recruiting staff.  High house prices or rents mean that young teachers, when they want to start a family, have no choice but to move out of London.

Meanwhile the government is in denial.

There will be another strike on Friday.

Pictures from yesterday's strike (contributed)






Monday 3 July 2023

TEACHERS ON PICKET LINES AT TWENTY BRENT SCHOOLS AS STRIKES HIT SCHOOLS ACROSS ENGLAND - BRENT TEACHERS SAY ENOUGH! ON REDUNDANCIES

 From Brent National Education Union

 


NEU members across Brent are striking this week in the fight for a fully funded pay rise in education. This follows multiple “restructures” in Brent primary schools which have led to redundancies.

 

Teachers across Brent will be on picket lines this Wednesday and Friday as part of a national strike campaign across England. Cuts to funding in schools and non-funded pay awards have led to redundancies in several Brent schools this term.

 

Teachers and supporters will be on picket lines at 20 Brent schools this week and many more will attend a demonstration in Westminster this Wednesday.

 

Jenny Cooper of Brent NEU and the NEU national executive said:

 

This government does not care about the dire state of our schools- our staffing shortages, our increased class sizes and our lack of money for basic resources. They do not care that those who were key workers in the pandemic are now being made redundant and our SEND kids are being left without adequate support. Well we say “Enough!”- we will not accept this for education- we believe another world is possible.

 

Wednesday 7 June 2023

St Mungos workers on strike in Willesden tomorrow - join the picket at 9.30am in Pound Lane, Willesden


 


Brent Trades Council is urging local activists to support workers at the homelessness charity St Mungos when they strike tomorrow. The workers are striking for a decent pay increase after what was described as a 'pitiful' offer. That is contrasted with high salaries for the bosses of the charity.

The picket is at Pound Lodge at115 Pound Lane, Just opposite Willesden bus garage.(nearest tube Dollis Hill on the Jubilee line.

A rally in support of the St Mungo workers  is planned for later this month on June 16th at noon outside Brent Civic Centre. Look out for final details on Wembley Matters. 

Monday 3 April 2023

98% of NEU Members Who Voted Reject Government Pay Offer

 

From National Education Union


The NEU consultative ballot on the Government's pay offer has been rejected by an overwhelming 98% of NEU teacher members in England on a turnout of 66%.

191,319 serving teachers in state schools in England have voted to reject Gillian Keegan's offer in less than six days.

It is not surprising that the offer has been rejected. The offer was not fully funded, would have meant teachers in England would see their pay fall even further behind their counterparts in Wales and Scotland and it would represent another two years of real-terms pay cuts.

It would do nothing to reverse the problems of recruitment and retention in our schools.

Commenting on the result, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education, said:

This resounding rejection of the Government's offer should leave Gillian Keegan in no doubt that she will need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better proposal.

The offer shows an astounding lack of judgement and understanding of the desperate situation in the education system.

We have today written to the education secretary informing her of the next two days of strike action on 27 April and 2 May that NEU teacher members in England will now be taking.

These strikes are more than three weeks away; Gillian Keegan can avoid them.

No teacher wants to be on strike. Nor can they accept this offer that does nothing to address the decades of below inflation pay increases making them the worst paid teachers in the UK. The offer will do nothing to stem the teacher recruitment and retention crisis which is so damaging to our children and young people's education.

The education secretary has united the profession in its outrage at this insulting pay offer. It is now for her to rectify that situation by starting to value education. The NEU is ready as we have stated all along to negotiate with ministers, but this time we hope a lesson has been learnt.  Gillian Keegan needs to start negotiations with respect for the profession she is supposedly representing in Government.

To parents we say that we have no wish to disrupt education, indeed our action is aimed at getting the Government to invest in the education of this generation of children and the people who teach them.

We are asking our school reps to plan with head teachers to ensure that year 11 and year 13 students have a full programme of education on the upcoming strike days.

Tuesday 14 March 2023

How to get to the National Budget Day Demonstration tomorrow

 With tube on strike you will need to find alternative routes to get into central London. National Rail, the Overground and buses will be running. This information has been provided by Brent National Education Union(NEU) - teachers are on strike on Wednesday and Thursday.


 

Chiltern Line trains from Wembley Stadium to Marylebone


 

Thursday 2 March 2023

Carnival mood as Brent teachers stage 'Education Festival' on their second strike day

 

Following a supportive speech from Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, strking teachers paraded along Olympic Way this morning, accompanied by colourful parachutes, musical instruments and whistles, for an Education Festival in Arena Square.

Representatives from local schools spoke along with the NEU Co-Secretary, Jenny Cooper, Roger Cox from Brent Trades Council and myself from the Green Party Trade Union Group.

The carnival atmosphere left little doubt that this strike is far from over. 

Nursery teacher Lucy Cox, dressed as a pink rabbit, addresses the crowd








At the end of the Festival, in a powerful moment,  NEU members held up posters demonstrating their opposition to racism and support for the  Resist Racism national demonstration to be held on Saturday March 18th.

 





 

Determined teachers stage second Brent strike. Plenty of public support.

I joined the picket line at Ark Academy, Wembley, again this morning on the NEU's second strike day and their determination remained strong. The  morning news about Gavin Williamson's opinion of teachers and their unions was well-timed to increase their determination.

We were joined by Labour councillor Ihtesham Malik Afzal. There was plenty of public support from passing pedestrians and vehicle 'tooting for teachers'.



Wednesday 1 February 2023

Thousands of striking teachers march on Downing Street

 

 

In these dark days of Tory misrule it was exhilerating to join thousands of striking teachers and other workers on the London march to Downing Street today. Bearing in mind this was just a London march, with other marches taking place regionally, the numbers were impressive and showed the depth of feeling of union members.

Beyond the many humorous placards the mood was of steely determination. This could be a prolonged and escalating action. 


 Police blocked off Whiteall for no apparent reason when half the march was already there

 



 


Writers' Union placard





Barry Gardiner and local councillors join NEU picket line as thousands strike

 

 The NEU picket line at Wembley's Ark Academy was well supported this morning with strking teachers joined by Barry Gardiner MP, Cllrs Kathleen Fraser (Barnhill), Cllr Mili Patel (Harlesden & Kensal Green) and Iman Ahmadi Moghaddam (Wembley Park); Graham Durham (Brent Trades Council), myself (Brent Green Party and Trade Union Group) and staff from Chalkhill Primary whose school was closed by the strike.

The picket covered both entrances to the school and numbers built up throughout the early morning. There were plenty of supportive 'toots' from passing vehicles as well as ambulance and bus drivers.

 





Tuesday 31 January 2023

Brent Green Party sends message of solidarity to striking Brent NEU members

The news that National Education Union members in Brent will be striking on February 1st is welcomed by Brent Green Party, who together with  the Green Party of England Wales as a whole, support all workers taking part in the current strike actions.


We recognise that NEU members are making just claims for pay increases that at least give some respite from the pressures of inflation which is outpacing the incomes of many except wealthy cabinet ministers and donors to Tory party coffers.


We know that the issue is not just pay, the NEU strikes and others are in defence of proper public provision in such vital areas such as education, health and transport. A viable low carbon economy can only be built on these foundations, so the strikes of the NEU members in Brent and many other trade unionists are an important part of wider struggles which are vital to us all.


SOLIDARITY TO THE NEU! SOLIDARITY TO STRIKERS!


Peter Murry, Trade Union Liaison Officer, Brent Green Party

TEACHERS IN EVERY BRENT STATE SCHOOL TO STRIKE OVER PAY TOMORROW

 

From Brent branch of the National Education Union

 

BRENT TEACHERS PLEDGE STRIKE ACTION ON PAY AND FUNDING TO SAVE SCHOOLS

 

NEU members will gather across 24 picket lines tomorrow morning from 7.30am in a bid to “save” their schools due to funding pressures and below-inflation pay.

 

Teachers will be on strike in an attempt to push the government for a fully funded pay award in line with inflation. They say that teachers in Brent are using food banks and cannot afford to live where they teach. After years of pay freezes and awards that were below inflation, and not fully funded, the NEU says Brent schools are in a sorry state and striking is a last resort.

 

Brent teachers smashed through the government thresholds placed on trade union ballots with a turnout of over 70% and a huge YES vote to strike. Many schools will be closed or partially closed tomorrow as a result.

 

All 3 Brent MPs have offered support to striking NEU members, as has the Leader of the Council, school governors and many parents.

 

Jenny Cooper, Joint District Secretary of Brent NEU and NEU national executive member has stated:

 

Teachers never take strike action lightly; we went into this job because we care about children and we certainly didn’t go into it for the pay! We feel it is our duty to do the only thing left that we can do to force the government to understand the mess our schools are in; this is another symptom of broken Britain,

 

 

Monday 16 January 2023

NEU teachers vote in overwhelming numbers for strike action. Local strike days 1st February, 2nd March, 15th March, 16th March

 

Teachers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in one of the biggest ballot seem for years. Support staff in Wales also voted for strike action as did those in England, but the latter did not meet the 50% of eligible members voting threshold.

The NAHT also balloted and again members voted for action but did not meet the threshold. It was a disappoining result as school leaders, teacher and support staff all strking would have been extremely powerful but as it is the NEU vote is very strong. After the announcement the NAHT put out this statement:

 

School leaders’ union to consider re-running industrial action ballot due to postal disruption, as leaders in England and Wales vote to take action

School leaders’ union NAHT, which represents leaders in the majority of schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, today (Mon 16 Jan) announces the results of its formal industrial action ballots on pay and funding, which began on Fri 11 November and closed on Weds 11 Jan.

The ballot results in England show an extraordinarily strong appetite for taking industrial action amongst leaders, with 87% voting ‘Yes’ to action short of strike (ASOS) and 64% voting ‘Yes’ to strike.

This means almost 10,000 school leaders across England are willing to take industrial action.

However, the legal requirement for turnout in England was not met, with votes counted for 42% of the union’s membership – short of the 50% needed.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “It is incredibly frustrating that anti-trade union and anti-democratic legislation compelled us to conduct the ballot by post during a period in which the management of the Royal Mail refused to take action to ameliorate the disruption to the postal service.”

There is a sharp contrast between the turnout in NAHT’s electronic consultative ballot for England, which received 64%, and the postal ballot that was restricted by the legislation.

In the final week of the ballot, NAHT surveyed those that had recently requested a ballot paper and 73% of respondents said they had still not received one.

Mr Whiteman continued: “We have to conclude that our democratic process has been compromised by factors outside of our control.

“It is ironic that legislation which the government claims protects the democratic rights of members has actively worked against that objective by not affording an alternative means of voting or allowing a clear ability to extend the deadline. It is notable that elections for party leaders are not constrained in the same way.

“There has been a very strong appetite for action from those we have heard from, with a higher percentage voting ‘Yes’ to both strike and action short of strike than in our consultative online ballot. It is clear our members’ resolve to stand up for themselves and for education has only hardened.

“It is my first priority that we conduct ourselves as a truly democratic union, which means every member’s vote must be counted. If our members feel that they have not had the chance to be heard during this ballot, it may be that we have no option but to start again. The National Executive Committee will meet this week to establish our next steps.

“I warn the government that they are on notice. 10,000 thousand school leaders have made it clear that they are at breaking point with the way things are. That is something that must be listened to. We remain formally in dispute with the government. If progress is not made urgently NAHT members will not be able to keep the show on the road and I have no doubt they will join their NAHT colleagues in Wales and Northern Ireland in taking action.”

School leaders in Wales have voted decisively to take industrial action. NAHT Cyrmu today announces that 95% of its members have voted ‘Yes’ to action short of strike, and 75% have voted ‘Yes’ to strike, with a 55% turnout.

NAHT’s analysis shows that postal disruption was less of a factor in Wales. 96% of the duplicate ballot papers requested were in England.

Mr Whiteman said: “The results of the ballot in Wales are unprecedented and reflect the sheer strength of feeling among school leaders in Wales that the system is broken. They feel they have no choice but to stand up and fight for themselves and for the children and staff in their schools.

“School leaders are relentlessly reasonable people and they have held their schools together throughout a decade of underfunding of education, eroded salaries, and a pandemic. But our members are telling me now that they cannot continue to run their schools in the current circumstances.

“Insufficient pay has caused a severe recruitment and retention crisis, and the lack of resources, funding, services and staff means that the education and support that can be given to pupils is suffering as a consequence. School leaders are doing their best with what little they have, but with their own salaries expected to be worth as much as 22% less this year than in 2010, many are reaching breaking point.

“No school leaders would take industrial action lightly and we will now return to our National Executive Committee to agree what the action voted for will look like and when it will take place. But this is a huge wake up call for Local Authority employers and the Welsh Government. For school leaders to be driven to voting to strike means things have gone very wrong indeed. They urgently need to listen to our members’ concerns and to take action to avoid the consequences of the industrial action to come.”

School leaders in Wales will join their colleagues in Northern Ireland in taking action. Members of NAHT Northern Ireland have been engaged in action short of strike since 18 October 2022.

Notes to editors:

For workers to take legal industrial action, union ballots must reach a 50% turn out. In England, for members in 'important public services’, such as education, at least 40% of all those entitled to vote must vote in favour.

NAHT balloted approximately 25,500 eligible members. This included serving school leaders in state funded schools in England and Wales, but excluded various member categories such as School Business Leaders whose salaries are covered by different bargaining arrangements, not the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB). There are 24,413 schools in England.

In England, the union’s dispute is with the government, i.e. the Secretary of State for Education. In Wales, the dispute is with school leaders’ employers i.e. Local Authorities.

In October, NAHT conducted an online survey, to establish members’ views on pay and funding. In that survey, 84% of respondents indicated they would be willing to take action short of strike, and 55% of respondents indicated they would be willing to strike.


Wednesday 29 January 2020

Brent Council sets up Task Group on avoiding Strathcona redundancies after successful strike ballot

From Brent National Education Union

Following many days of strike action in the Autumn term at Roe Green Infants to try to save their Strathcona site, the NEU has announced a successful ballot result for further strike action to fight redundancies.

In the wake of this successful ballot, Brent Council have set up a task group to work on avoiding redundancies at the school.

Jenny Cooper, District Secretary of Brent NEU, said, “This shows what can happen when staff stand together, united, to protect each other. The council did not engage with the school or its union members until this further ballot was announced.”

Brent Council is to close the successful Roe Green Strathcona school site in a phased closure beginning in September 2020. 

Meanwhile the NEU has had sight of a letter sent to Brent primary governors inviting primary schools to open additional sites for alternative provision due to a shortage of school places for children with EHCPs. Roe Green Infants were presumably included in this mailing.

Cllr Jumbo Chan has once again offered his “complete solidarity” with the NEU members at the school.