Education workers in 14 schools in the Outwood Grange Multi-Academy Trust (OGMAT) are in dispute.
Iain Dalton visited the picket line of National Education Union (NEU) members at Outwood Academy, Hemsworth, on their second day of strike action on 10 June.
The Trust wants to lengthen the working day by half an hour. Management says this is in order to comply with government guidelines on the length of the school day, but NEU strikers explained these guidelines aren’t adhered to by many schools.
Whilst parents have had letters saying the extra time will be used to provide additional lessons, the reality is that this will become extra tutor group time at the start of the day. As one teacher on the picket line put it: “This seems to have been drawn up by someone in a boardroom with no experience of teaching. No workers should be expected to work longer for no extra pay, but it’s even more frustrating when you can’t see a benefit to our students either”.
Members of teaching union NASUWT (who have been on strike at five schools in the Trust) have also been balloted for action at the school in Hemsworth.
The strikers were joined by Jacob Williamson and Stan Bates, independent councillors suspended from the Labour Party for voting against cuts in Wakefield.
Socialist Party members have supported NEU members on strike in several schools in the Outwood MAT, and others around the country, including London East Alternative Provision (LEAP) in Tower Hamlets, East London, striking against teacher redundancies, and Leytonstone School in Waltham Forest fighting loss of support staff pay.
