Union members planning three-day strike at coastal secondary school
Staff at Tendring Technology College are set for a three-day strike next week - Credit: Google Maps
Staff at an Essex secondary school are set for a three-day strike next week over proposals for a restructure that they say will see teaching and support roles cut.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) are taking three days of consecutive strike action from Tuesday, May 25 at Tendring Technology College (TTC), which has sites in Frinton-on-Sea and Thorpe-le-Soken.
Academies Enterprise Trust (AET), which manages the college, has said it is "deeply disappointing" that the union is striking after students have worked at home for much of the last year.
NEU members at TTC are angered by what they call an "unnecessary restructure" by AET that they say will cut teaching and support staff jobs from September.
The NEU has said the cuts would impact the school's quality of education and student support, as well as reduce its capacity.
The union has also claimed AET takes a cut from the school’s budget of around £1250 pounds per student to run its multi-academy trust.
AET has described this claim as "misleading" and said any money taken is reinvested in school services.
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Jerry Glazier, Essex NEU branch secretary, said: "We have done our utmost to resolve this dispute through negotiation with AET.
Essex NEU branch secretary Jerry Glazier said union members were left with 'no option' but to strike
"Regrettably, inadequate progress has left us with no option but to take the strike action.
"Members are doing this because they care about having a school structure that meets the needs of all its students. Current AET plans simply will not do that."
A spokesperson for AET said: "One day lost to learning is one day too many, and yet the unions are proposing an initial three-day strike with the threat of more after half term.
"Despite our best attempts to engage the unions in constructive dialogue, they prefer to take this disproportionate and damaging action. Following discussions with unions, we have already agreed that the proposed changes involve no compulsory redundancies.
"We have also worked hard to ensure the proposals will benefit our students - in terms of teaching hours, the changes will mean that our students have more time in the classroom with their teachers, and there will be a wider range of opportunities in our sixth form - including the introduction of Modern Foreign Languages across the Essex academies."
