Rail strikes: Head teacher calls union 'callous and selfish'

Peter Cooper said some students were letting friends sleep on their sofas the night before their exams

A head teacher has accused transport workers union RMT of "callous selfishness" over planned rail strikes.

Peter Cooper, the principal of Hereford Sixth Form College, said such action would disrupt exams, adding he felt "very sad" for the students affected.

Rail workers are set to strike over pay and jobs on 21, 23 and 25 June.

Mr Cooper said many of his students travelled by train and strikes would be a further blow to them after two years of Covid disruption.

The RMT says members working for train companies have been subject to "pay freezes, threats to jobs and attacks on their terms and conditions".

The principal says he is worried thousands of students could be affected by strike action

But Mr Cooper criticised their timing, saying "it's not a national secret when exams are".

He said: "Unions really were created at the beginning to avoid the exploitation of vulnerable people and there's nobody more vulnerable than these students."

He added "many [students] are putting friends up on sofas the night before vital exams" and others would have to return to online learning, which he said was not ideal.

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Mr Cooper said many students were "very nervous" at this time.

"I just feel very sad for those students and young folks who are going to be affected by something that is nothing to do with them personally," he said.