More strikes for school teachers
NEAA 13-06-12 BE 5 Kimberley school teachers on strike.
Teachers at The Kimberley School are planning more strike action because a compromise has not been reached over plans for academy status.
The National Teachers Union has planned three more days industrial action next week and say there will be more thereafter until the school is ‘willing to negotiate’.
NUT regional officer Nick Raine said the union met with the chair of governors and the headteacher at the school, but a compromise was not reached leaving him ‘forced to escalate the campaign’.
Mr Raine – who joined teachers on the picket line for the second time Wednesday and Thursday this week, said: “We went to a meeting with management to come to a compromoise but they said their position had not changed.
“Members are unanymous they wanted more action.”
Union members are concerned their pay and conditions will change, school policies will change and are worried an academy chain could take over the school if it gets into financial difficulty.
Headteacher Chris Teal said conditions will remain the same, but Mr Raine says Mr Teal will not be at the school forever.
Mr Teal said: “Governors remain committed to their cause to become an academy. We still believe it’s in the best interests of the school, the children and the staff.
“We have reiterated our commitment to the union to retain the national terms of service at minimum, if not better them. We have done as much as we can.
“I won’t dispute the fact that there’s been no compromise reached. The situation is, we either become ad academy or we don’t. There’s not a middle ground as far as I can see.”
Mr teal said the NUT was ‘fighting a national battle on a local stage’. The battle was lost a couple of years ago, he said.
By September, 36 of Nottinghamshire’s 45 secondary schools will be academies.
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Weather for Eastwood
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
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Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
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