Teachers at private school vote to strike

More than 100 teachers have said they will take industrial action

Teachers at a private school have voted to strike for six days over a pension dispute.

About 100 teachers at Dame Allan’s Independent School will take industrial action between March and April.

Teachers’ Union (NASUWT) and the National Education Union (NEU) said its members were resisting changes to pension contributions.

A school spokesperson said staff were “working hard” to minimise disruption to pupils.

The unions said the teachers, at both the junior and senior schools, will strike on 19 March, 26-27 March, and 16-18 April.

Staff are striking because the school is seeking to change its pension provider and reduce its employer contributions, the unions said.

Beth Farhat, a regional secretary at NEU, said teachers at the school were “angry and determined to defend what is rightfully theirs”.

“Teachers’ strength of feeling is unwavering,” she said.

'Action is unsettling'

David Arthur, the school’s chair of governors, said employer costs in its current scheme had “risen steeply”.

He said the new proposal would “produces good projections of pension incomes with broadly comparable benefits” to the old scheme.

“Any strike action is unsettling and disruptive for pupils and their parents,” Mr Arthur said.

“We are working hard to ensure that the effects of any disruption to the education of our pupils is kept to a minimum.”