Members of the NEU teaching union working at 23 private schools will strike in a week’s time, it has been announced.
Last month, members of the teaching union working at the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) voted to strike over opposition to their employers’ plans to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS).
And now, the union has revealed that the strike action will take place on six separate days, with the first to be next week.
The dates for the strike will be 10, 23 and 24 February and 1, 2 and 3 March.
The announcement comes despite the chief executive of GDST, Cheryl Giovannoni, asking the union to delay calling for strike action until late February when it said its trustees would be deciding on how to respond to staff demands.
1,500 NEU teacher-members are expected to take part in the strikes.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said the decision to withdraw from the TPS would “be a disaster for staff, for future recruitment and for pupils,” adding that teachers couldn’t wait until the trust’s final decision to call strike action, as this would be “too late”.
He added: “Teachers always take strike action with a heavy heart, which is why this extraordinary mandate should give the trust pause. Members are angry and determined to defend what is rightfully theirs.
“These are committed and hardworking staff who have been pushed to the point of taking action, the like of which the Girls’ Day School Trust has never seen. Teachers’ strength of feeling is unwavering.”
Cheryl Giovannoni, CEO at GDST, said she was “disappointed” the NEU has called for strike action while trustees were still considering all of the feedback gathered during a consultation.
She added: “We understand the strength of feeling amongst our teachers and their concerns, but the NEU calling the proposed changes a disaster for staff and pupils is not right.
“We would not have put forward these proposals unless we felt they were necessary to support the long-term sustainability of the GDST family of schools, enabling us to continue to provide an excellent and affordable education for girls in our schools, and at the same time ensuring our teachers have a comfortable retirement.”
Nearly all - 95 per cent - of NEU teacher-members at the GDST who voted supported strike action last month, on a turnout of 84 per cent.
The action will be the first in the trust’s entire 149-year history.
Plans to withdraw from the TPS were first announced by GDST in September following the government’s decision to raise the rate of employers’ contributions by 43 per cent in 2019.
The NEU says that, under the plans, teachers will be at least 20 per cent worse off on average in terms of the annual amount they receive in pension payments.
