Teachers at Tamworth high schools to strike at council job-loss plans
Jun 5 2009 by Cillian O'Brien, Birmingham Post
Teachers at five Tamworth high schools will stage one-day strikes in protest at Staffordshire County Council’s education plans.
Union members fear plans proposed in the council’s £100million Building Schools for Futures will result in more than 70 job losses.
Proposals include turning Woodhouse Business and Enterprise College into a privately-backed academy for 11 to 16-year-olds and building a post-16 centre for the whole of Tamworth on the grounds of Queen Elizabeth Mercian School (QEMS), both of which would be run by the Landau Forte trust.
The National Association of Schoolmasters’ Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) fears the proposals will bring job losses, threaten teachers’ pay and working conditions and weaken sixth-form provision in the area.
Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: “Despite opposition from teachers, headteachers, parents and the community, the council remains obdurate and intransigent. It is appalling that the council is not prepared to consider alternative proposals to ensure continuity of sixth-form provision based on the tradition of schools working collaboratively and in partnership. The Government should intervene to prevent such an appalling educational decision.”
Peter Traves, director of Children and Lifelong Learning at the council, said they understood concerns of teachers and had issued reassurance to staff about their employment. He said: “We believe industrial action is unnecessary, potentially damaging to the education of students and both alarming and inconvenient for their parents.”
The strike is part of continuous industrial action since April, when teachers started a “working to defined limits” protest – refusing to provide cover, attend meetings, or support extra-curricular activities.
Staff will walk out at Woodhouse Business and Enterprise College on Wednesday and at Wilnecote High School on Thursday. On the following Wednesday and Thursday teachers will picket Belgrave HS and Rawlett Sports College respectively. About 12 NUT members at Queen Elizabeth Mercian School are likely to strike on either June 17 or 18.
