Workers on the picket line outside Belmont Park School in Waltham Forest, east London
NEU union members struck this week at Belmont Park School in Waltham Forest, east London, over failures of management. Education workers were out on Monday and Tuesday and were set to strike on Wednesday and Thursday.
One striker told Socialist Worker, “We have had a new headteacher since January, so for almost a year, and all staff are upset about the attitude, ethos and direction of the school.”
There is an excessive workload, financial problems caused by management, opportunities for some and not for others and a lack of meaningful consultation.
“The way the headteacher speaks to staff isn’t professional at all. There has been victimisation and constant rule changes,” a striker said. “There is no meeting half way. It always has to be her way. There is no communication. She belittles us and makes you feel incompetent.”
Some people are working excessively more hours than others. When trade union reps have been at the forefront of supporting members, there have been attempts to use disciplinary action to punish them.
One striker said they decided to join the NEU union after being bullied by management.
There have been mistakes made around basic matters of employment, such as on pay and pensions. No workers should enter a workplace not knowing whether their pension contributions have been paid correctly or having their pay increase continuously delayed.
“Some pensions haven’t been paid since May. A new payroll has been introduced that messed up people’s money. It had meant that some people missed out on Universal Credit,” a worker added.
And bosses have implemented a curriculum that creates workloads issues and isn’t suited to the children at the school.
The school teaches children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send). But the headteacher is implementing “a mainstream curriculum for a special needs school,” a striker said, “We have to adapt to the kids. She has copied and pasted the curriculum from her last school.”
And exclusions have soared since the new headteacher came in.
“The list of problem has only grown. That is represented in the vote to strike—92 percent voted to strike this time,” an NEU union member told Socialist Worker.
“Even the students aren’t happy. There is no empathy, no care or connection to the kids. It is very corporate. Our school worked on goodwill and now there is none of that. We feel that we don’t want to do anything because we aren’t appreciated.”
More days of action are planned, with workers walking out from Monday to Thursday next week.
The NEU education union has agreed to launch an indicative ballot in February about industrial action.
The union will ask members’ willingness to strike on the issue of continued austerity in education.
The government is proposing a 6.5 percent pay award for teachers over three years, with no extra funding. It will mean that schools will be forced to fund the pay award through their own budgets—and will be forced to make cuts elsewhere to do so.
“Cold classrooms, leaking roofs, broken toilets. Staff leaving and never replaced. Workload soaring as a result. We cannot endure any more cuts to education,” Daniel Kebede, NEU union general secretary said.
The School Teachers’ Review Body is expected to send its report to the government in February next year. If the government responds by sticking to its under-inflation and unfunded pay offer, NEU union members should take hard-hitting action to fight back.
Kebede said, “It is in the government’s gift to avoid a confrontation with the profession. Education is running on empty. We will not stand by as this government continues to underfund our schools and drive education into the ground. As a union we are prepared to take whatever action is necessary to save our schools.”
NEU union members were out on picket lines at Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School, Coventry, last week over increased workloads. They are set to strike again from Tuesday to Friday next week.
Last week management again brought absolutely nothing to the table and remained hostile to their own workers. It certainly did not help matters that they sent a letter to all parents that continued their hostility and showed their lack of respect to workers.
On the picket line last week, teachers said that the letter lied by suggesting management had brought offers to workers. In fact, they had brought none and provided no answers to the union’s requests.
It made clear to teachers that management has no understanding of how to negotiate and reach any reasonable compromise with their workers. Now, no union members have any trust in the current school leadership.
Most parents who have spoken to the pickets were very friendly and supportive. One brought a box of chocolates to the picket line to share.
Teachers at Craigclowan School, near Perth, struck last Wednesday to protect their pensions. Bosses have used fire and rehire letters to force its teachers to give up their occupational teachers’ pension scheme. They are pushing workers to instead join a cheaper private pension scheme from January 2026.
All attempts by the EIS union to open talks to resolve the dispute have been rebuffed by the school, which does not recognise any trade union.
And currently teachers at the school have one of the worst pension schemes in any school in Scotland.
The school should spend more on its teachers rather than employing more senior managers.
Health workers set to strike across four Manchester hospitals
Bus workers rejected an offer and came back out
Deadline to accept new conditions approaches
