Staff at the National Education Union are set to strike from next week after the ATL section voted to walk out just eleven months after amalgamating with the NUT.

The move follows reported tensions that have surfaced since the two unions came together last September - a move designed to pool resources and achieve greater clout as a superunion with close to 500,000 members across the education sector.

The decision of the two unions to come together surprised some given their different traditions, with the NUT seen as more likely to take industrial action than the more moderate ATL. 

Yet it is staff at the latter union who have balloted for a walkout as the superunion is mid-way through the transition process of amalgamation, which is scheduled to conclude early next year.  

Since the process started, there have been growing rumours that staff on the ATL side feel the process feels more like a take-over than a bringing together of two different organisations with different cultures and membership profiles. 

Now concerns over issues related to workplace appeals and staff terms of conditions appear to have brought frustrations to boiling point. 

ATL staff, many of whom are members of the GMB union, have complained that their pay and conditions will be worsened under amalgamation.

Tes last week made repeated attempts to contact the GMB, which represents many ATL members, about the rumoured strike. 

The Sunday Telegraph reported today that the union voted nine to one in favour of strike action to take place at any point or continuously between this Thursday and December 31.

When approached about the imminent industrial action the NEU which is jointly  led by Kevin Courtney, former general secretary of the NUT, and Mary Bousted, who led the ATL,  issued a statement to Tes which said:

“There are always HR issues that arise with amalgamations as no organisation will have the exact terms and conditions of the other.  As a good employer, we are working very hard with the recognised unions to ensure the best possible outcomes for staff in the new union and discussions are continuing.”

The spectre of industrial action by NEU staff and officials is likely to be seen by members as an unhelpful distraction at a time when the super union is working with fellow school unions to put pressure on the government to announce the pay recommendations of the school teachers pay review body, and its ongoing fight for more school funding.