Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/587/7528
From The Socialist newspaper, 8 July 2009
Waltham Forest
First strike against Trust schools
On 2 July, teachers at Norlington Boys secondary school in Waltham Forest, East London went on strike - the first strike in the country against Trust status. The school was completely closed for the day. Robert Corby, NUT rep at the school, spoke to Linda Taaffe.
"We have been forced to take this action because we are angry that the school is being handed over to a Trust, and taken out of local authority control.
Two other schools and ours are being closed and merged into a huge 3-18 school, with a new school to be built on very precious green space, the local cricket ground.
The Labour council has not taken into account the needs of boys' education. Now there will be no single sex boys' school in the borough, yet there is one for girls.
They have not properly consulted with us the staff, doing only the bare minimum, keeping to the letter of the law but definitely not the spirit. They have not consulted properly with the local community. I would be very surprised if many of them even know about it.
Even the Trust 'partner', the Institute of Education - a college specialising in teacher training! - has done nothing to consult their lecturers and students. The UCU, the lecturers' union, are opposed to the idea of privatising education in any form - academies or trusts.
We believe that there is no educational merit at all in this Labour Party policy of handing schools over to Trusts, just political expediency. We think Trusts reinforce the lack of local democracy and actually remove choice for parents and pupils.
But now we have got the ball rolling, we are not going to stop. We have already forced them to delay the start. It was scheduled for 1 September.
Also Unison is balloting its members in the school, so the next strike is likely to be joint action. This means we can really step up the action with further strike days, even in the new term."
Why not click here to join the Socialist Party, or click here to donate to the Socialist Party.
In The Socialist 8 July 2009:
Action now to defend public sector
Youth fight for jobs
Socialist Party editorial
Postal workers need a national fightback
Socialist Party news and analysis
National Express goes off the rails
Demanding justice for Shrewsbury 24
Socialist Party women
Why women don't have real equality
International socialist news and analysis
Police trigger ethnic clashes in Xinjiang
Honduras coup - a warning to workers in Latin America
Sri Lanka: Protest over DfID role
Socialist Party reviews
Stalin's Nemesis: The Exile and Murder of Leon Trotsky
Arundhati Roy - politics and literature
Education
Higher fees in higher education
Drama students enter the stage of struggle
First strike against Trust schools
Socialist Party workplace news
RMT Annual General Meeting: "If provoked - Will strike"
Save jobs at Vestas wind turbine plant
Private companies caught in jobcentre scam
South West Wales Media: Fight for jobs, defend conditions
Oilc - fighting for decent working conditions in the North Sea
Home | The Socialist 8 July 2009 | Join the Socialist Party
Join us today!
Printable version
email to friend
