The first strike by teachers at a Newcastle school in its near 150 year history starts today.
Around 50 members of the National Education Union are expected join a picket line outside Newcastle High School for Girls in Jesmond between 7am and 9am.
They are among 1,500 teachers nationwide working for the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) and belonging to the NEU who voted overwhelmingly last month in favour of strike action after the trust announced plans to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS).
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The union said if this were to go ahead, teachers will be at least 20% worse off on average in terms of the annual amount they receive in pension payments.
And the NEU said members were furious that at the very start of the consultation the employer served legal notice of their intention to ‘fire and rehire’ teachers who do not accept the new pension proposals.
Beth Farhat, Regional Secretary, NEU Northern Region said: “Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect at work. Forcing people to re-apply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions is plain wrong.
"Fire and re-hire tactics have no place in modern Britain and must be outlawed and until that’s done employers like the Girls Day School Trust will use this practice to water down terms and conditions.
"Members are angry and determined to defend what is rightfully theirs. These are committed and hard-working 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 and I’ll be proud to stand with them.”
The Girls’ Day School Trust proposes to remove its teaching staff at these independent schools from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
Cheryl Giovannoni, CEO of the GDST, said the increase the TPS had on employer costs has had a severe impact on our expenditure and has put us in a very difficult position.
She said: "We understand the strength of feeling amongst our teachers over this issue and of course the concerns raised by our parents.
"We care deeply about our teachers and would not have put forward these proposals unless we felt they were absolutely necessary to support the long-term sustainability of the GDST family of schools. . . "
Ms Giovannoni continued: "The unsustainable cost pressures of the TPS are being felt acutely across the independent schools’ sector.
"Following a 43% increase in employer contributions to the TPS implemented by the government in 2019, in the region of 300 independent schools have left or are planning to leave the TPS, and many others are consulting on doing so.
"The government has covered this rise in full for the maintained sector, including our two academies, but independent schools must deal with this additional burden on their own.
"We are proposing a strong alternative pension scheme, with a 20% employer contribution alongside other benefits. The flexible pension plan the GDST is proposing will provide greater scope for a total reward package, including pay."
She added: "GDST has worked closely with Heads in our schools to ensure students continue to learn effectively during strike action.
"This includes drawing on GDST resources from across the family of schools and making sure any lessons that are missed on strike days are made-up at other times. "
The GDST has 25 schools around the country, including Newcastle High School for Girls, which was formed in 2014 by the merger of Church High and Central High.
The NEU said six days of strike action will take place starting today, then February 23 and February 24 and next month on March 1, March 2 and March 3.
However Newcastle members won't be taking part on February 23 and 24 because it is half term there.
