Teachers at 23 independent schools within the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) have gone on strike today, with around 1,500 members of the NEU teaching union involved.
Last month, members of the union working at schools in the trust voted to strike in opposition to their employers’ plans to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS).
Six days of strike action have been announced, starting from today, with the last due to be held on 3 March.
A growing number of private schools are leaving the TPS after the government raised the rate of employers’ contributions by 43 per cent in 2019. State schools were covered for the increase but private schools were not.
Pickets were held at GDST schools across England and Wales, with speeches being made by NEU officials and teachers.
Speaking at a picket at Putney High School, Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of NEU, said the situation “should never have come to this”.
“What the GDST has forgotten is that a school is not the buildings, it’s not a fantastic place for a chief executive officer - a school is not a business, a school is a community,” she added.
“It’s a community of learners and teachers and support staff and leaders. None of you came into teaching to get rich. We know that your salaries are already below what you could earn in the state sector, we know that they’re below what you could earn in other independent schools.”
GDST accused of ‘slashing’ teachers’ pensions
She concluded: “We know that you work for the GDST because you believe in girls’ education. We know that you believe in the trust and we want the GDST to be the best it can be and to lead by example. And to not say ‘we value our teachers’ in words, whilst treating them as disgracefully as you are being treated.”
Speaking to Tes at the picket, Kate Jeffrey, an English teacher at Putney High School, said she was striking because she thought teachers needed “to tell the GDST that we need to stay in the TPS”.
She added: “We won’t be able to retain our best teachers, we won’t be able to recruit good new teachers.”
In a statement, GDST said that it knew how much its teachers cared about their students, adding: “We are disappointed that the NEU has called for strike action while GDST trustees are still considering all feedback gathered during the collective consultation process”.
The statement also said the GDST had “repeatedly” invited the NEU to suggest how the situation could be developed or to propose alternatives, but added: “The NEU has refused to engage with us on our proposals, with their national position being ‘TPS at all costs’.”
Dr Bousted said: “Today saw an historic strike by NEU teacher members who work in Girls’ Day School Trust’s 23 independent schools.
“This is the first day of strike action in the trust’s 149-year history and speaks to a regrettable impasse with an employer who seeks to slash the pensions of its staff. If enacted, this plan will be a disaster for staff, for future recruitment and for pupils.
“Today, from Nottingham to Cardiff, from Newcastle to London, and many points between, GDST teachers, parents and alumnae showed their strength of feeling.”
She added that further days of strike action could be averted “if the trust withdraws its plan fully and without caveat, and does so immediately”.
