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The Socialist 27 January 2016

Housing: smash the Tory wrecking bill

Housing: smash the Tory wrecking bill

Davos summit: a broken capitalist system

Google pays pittance for avoiding £2bn tax

Red doors and wristbands scandal

Steelworkers may face benefit cut-off for not seeking bar jobs

Oscars snub black artists: fight racism and austerity in the arts

Labour councillor smears TUSC policy as 'BNP'

Them & Us

Top tweets: #TraditionallySubmissive

Teaching: a perfect storm is brewing

Teachers need national strategy for a national struggle

A day in the life of a teacher and mother

New wave of protests in Tunisia

India: student death exposes caste oppression

Tories 'Prevent' civil liberties

Labour councillor suspended for fighting cuts

Dave Nellist's byelection appeal to Jeremy Corbyn: 'let's discuss how to fight the cuts'

Labour election post-mortem: nothing to report!

The dark arts of Labour's right

Councillors must fight to defend our services

'People's budgets' and local democracy

Lewisham: no backsliding in council cuts fight!

"I have left work many times in tears" - a council worker

Trade union bill will stretch resources and limit action

Birmingham teachers strike to resist academy attack

24-hour tube strike suspended

Care services under threat in Haringey

Workplace news in brief

The end for deep coal mining jobs in Britain

Obituary: Dean Meehan 1962-2016

Letters

Protesting against closure of Huddersfield A&E

Coventry children's services closure protest

New Socialist Party branch fights against St Austell austerity

Socialist Party discusses the fight for socialism

Socialist Students bake-off

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Birmingham teachers strike to resist academy attack

Teachers' picket line at Small Heath School, 19.1.2015, photo by Jane Nellist (Click to enlarge)

Clive Walder, Birmingham Socialist Party

Teaching staff in the NUT at Small Heath School in Birmingham have started nine days of strike action (19-21 and 26-28 January and 2-4 February) against the threat to turn it into an academy.

The school have failed to properly engage with staff, pupils or parents. Teachers have already taken five days of strike action before Christmas over this issue.

Two days after teachers voted for this round of strike action NUT rep Simon O'Hara was suspended by management in an obvious attempt to break the action.

About 50 teachers and supporters attended the first picket on 19 January on a freezing cold morning and heard many passing cars toot their horns in support.

Determined

The mood was lively and determined and the picket line was visited by NUT NEC and Socialist Party member Jane Nellist.

There was another well attended picket on 21 January when NASUWT members were out on strike too. Once again many cars tooted their horns in support.

Management are still refusing to talk to the unions, It may well be that they are trying to drag the dispute out and hope that the majority of parents will eventually oppose the strike.

It is possible that management want this to be a watershed dispute in the struggle against academisation.

But there is at the moment a vocal group of parents in support of the strike and IT staff who are members of the teachers' and lecturers' union ATL will be striking on the next dates.

The teachers are determined to win what could be a bitter dispute.

Please send protests about Simon O'Hara's suspension to [email protected], messages of support to [email protected] and sign the online petition in support of Simon at chn.ge/1Q12Jm4

In this issue

Socialist Party news and analysis

Housing: smash the Tory wrecking bill