National Education Union (NEU) members at a special school in North London are set to take further strike action over disputes about cuts to pay and hours. Strikes took place over nine days before Christmas forcing the school to close, with a further seven days of strikes scheduled this month after members rejected an offer from the Trust.
Woodfield School is a mixed secondary school in Kingsbury, Brent, catering for pupils aged 11 to 19 with a range of special educational needs including physical disabilities and autism. Part of the Compass Learning Partnership academy trust, the school had to close numerous times last month after NEU members walked out.
The union has said members are striking “in a fight to retain their pay”, as learning support assistants at the school “face pay cuts resulting from forced change in hours”. During talks at the end of last year, the Trust made an offer that would cut teaching assistant’ working time by one and a half hours a week – a reduction from the three and a half hours previously proposed.
The NEU claim this change would be funded by “reducing the ‘academy top slice’” that the Trust is currently taking out of the school’s government funding. ‘Academy top slice’ refers to a financial model where a percentage of each schools’ government funding is used to pay for shared services, including Human Resources and IT.
NEU Regional Officer, Cian Galea, said: “Our members voted overwhelmingly to reject that offer. The current reduction in hours equates to a pay cut of between £2,000 and £4,000 per year for lowly-paid teaching assistants. The proposal reduces this pay cut, but still impacts on staffs’ pay during a cost of living crisis […].”
Following the rejection of the offer, the NEU claims the Trust advised parents and carers at the school that it had “secured an alternative activities offer” for pupils on the January strike days, which will be carried out by existing agency staff employed by the school.
The union believes that “seeking to induce employment businesses to provide the School to cover the work of our members involved in lawful strike action in contravention of regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulation 2003”.
The NEU added: “If the Trust moves ahead with what we consider to be unlawful action, we will be forced to contact the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate with a view to prosecuting those businesses.”
Compass Learning Partnership were approached for comment but did not respond ahead of publication.
Ms Galea, said: “Our members are deeply disappointed that the Trust is diverting money to this offer of alternative activities, which could be used to restore the hours of our members to what they were before the proposed cuts, rather than meaningfully engaging in negotiations with the NEU.
“Our members remain open to a further offer from the school and Trust that is superior to the one they overwhelmingly rejected and would consider suspending their proposed strike dates if such an offer is made. Our members wish to return to the classroom and look after the children they care about so deeply, but they cannot accept the significant reduction in hours and pay that the School and Trust are currently proposing.”
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
