Teachers at two schools to strike over hours

Staff at Wombourne High School will strike with teaching colleagues in Kinver over several dates in December

Teachers at two schools are to go on strike in a dispute over unpaid additional work, the National Education Union (NEU) said.

The first of six days of strike action in December by teachers at Wombourne and Kinver high schools begins on Thursday.

The union said staff were being directed to work over the number of hours they were contracted to, which was "bound to have a negative impact on their wellbeing" and affect the quality of provision.

Edward Vitalis, CEO of Invictus Education Trust which runs the two schools, said it had offered concessions and compromises but they were not reciprocated and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) had been contacted.

The union said it had tried to discuss issues and engage with the trust since April but "our colleagues are being told that they will simply have to give up their contractual entitlements and agree to work beyond their paid hours".

Taking the strike action was "disappointing" the union said, but added members said they felt they had been left with no choice.

Disruption expected

NEU Staffordshire branch secretary Rebecca Cann claimed a recent meeting was stopped by the employer after less than five minutes, "showing a lack of serious engagement with their staff and a lack of willingness to resolve these issues".

Research showed teachers did more unpaid overtime than almost any other profession, she added, and it was "insulting that Invictus feel it is acceptable to actually direct their staff to carry out between 80 to 100 hours of unpaid additional work each year".

"Making staff work these additional hours will affect their wellbeing, their energy and the time they have available to fulfil their role," Ms Cann added.

In a statement, Mr Vitalis said the school valued staff, wanted them to feel supported and respected, and had been trying to achieve this over the past two years.

"When we met with NEU representatives last week, we wanted to build on this positive work and find solutions that balanced their concerns with the needs of our students," he said.

"In fact, we put eight concessions or compromises on the table to avoid us reaching this point. Sadly, this approach was not reciprocated."

He added they respected the decision by teachers to strike and were taking steps to minimise disruption, but expected there would be some, and had written to parents.