Teachers at four schools on strike

Teachers at four schools in England will strike over changes to their pay, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) announced today, in what it says could be the start of widespread industrial action.
The schools in Calderdale, Greenwich, Newham and Doncaster are protesting about the change in payments for management responsibilities, which will become known as teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments as part of a review to be completed at the end of this month.

Every teacher with existing management responsibilities, including some pastoral roles, will have their workload reassessed and be awarded new TLR payments, but the NUT says these are smaller and some members could lose over £10,000 each as a result.

The payment review is happening in 18,000 schools in England. One hundred and eighty two indicative ballots to test the opinion of the workforce have so far taken place, with 16 formal ballots to follow the four schools which have already agreed action.

Steve Sinnott, the NUT's general secretary, said: "The NUT does not take industrial action lightly. The last widespread action was in the mid-1980s. But the union is determined to protect its members.

"The union is determined to act where members are threatened with pay loss. The first strikes this week could be followed by more next term if the disputes with individual schools remain unresolved. The union wants to settle these disputes and has emphasized to the schools concerned that we are ready to re-start negotiations to find settlements."

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills, said: "Strikes achieve only one thing - disruption to children's learning.

"The new payments allow heads and governors the flexibility they need to structure their schools as they see fit - to make best use of teachers' expertise - and reward those taking on significant additional responsibilities, in an open and fair way. They replace the outdated and often misused management allowances and are designed to reinforce the important progress made in focusing teachers on teaching and learning."

The four schools in which strike action will take place are: Hipperholme and Lighcliffe high school, Calderdale (December 12); Plumstead Manor secondary school, Greenwich (December 15); Shaftesbury primary school, Newham (December 15) and Northcliffe secondary school, Doncaster (December 15).

from Polly Curtis, education correspondent at The Guardian