Strikes at Harold Hill school: More dates announced as new law allows use of agency staff

Members of the National Teachers Union (NEU) at Drapers’ Pyrgo Priory School have been striking for several months over a restructure which the union claims cuts hours and wages.

The chief executive of the Drapers Multi-academy Trust (MAT), Bushra Nasir, however said the restructure implemented in September has "enabled the school to make some savings but more importantly it provides excellent support for all pupils".

The NEU has now announced a series of new strike dates - September 27 to 29, and October 4 to 6, 11 to 13, and 18 to 20 - and condemned the school’s use of agencies to fill roles.

However, a new law passed by the government this summer means businesses can legally hire agency staff to plug gaps left by strikes, in a move widely decried by unions.

John Delaney, NEU district and branch secretary, said the school’s decision “only aggravates the dispute".

“The school is paying teachers to work as support staff which seems an extravagant waste of money,” he said.

Mr Delaney said the NEU had contacted its agency members requesting they do not accept work at the school until the dispute has been resolved.

Ms Nasir did not comment directly on the school’s use of agency staff.

She did however point to the 31 school days that will have been affected by the end of the proposed strikes, adding: “Our top priority must always be the welfare of our children."

Staff on the picket line outside the school at a previous strike in June (Image: John Delaney)

Another point of contention for the NEU has been the school’s decision not to return to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to flesh out a resolution.

“Drapers’ MAT claim they have no choice about making cuts to hours and pay grades and yet they are spending more money trying to break the strike,” he said.

“They should resume talks and find a way to come to an agreement with their own long serving support staff community.”

Ms Nasir described additional talks with ACAS as “superfluous”, after having an offer in July rejected by the NEU.

However, she added: “This does not mean we are not willing to engage in such discussions.

“The school has made many changes and concessions as part of the support staff restructure/consultation process."

She went on to claim: “The NEU has offered little in terms of compromise and seem intent on causing maximum disruption to the educational service and reputations of all concerned.”