School workers across London have been striking against academy proposals, terms and conditions, appraisal, and management styles.
In January National Education Union (NEU) and GMB members at Charlton Park academy in Greenwich won an agreement that nationally negotiated terms and conditions would apply to all staff (see: bit.ly/2Gh5Six).
Campaigns against academisation in Newham have linked up NEU members, parents, and Labour Party activists. Strikes have happened at Avenue Primary school, Cumberland school, and Keir Hardie school.
The strikes have stopped academisation at Keir Hardie school, where parents were sent a letter just before the Easter holidays saying plans for academisation were now off the table. Avenue Primary has been unable to convert to an academy as scheduled by Easter as a local parent has won the first stage of their legal challenge at the High Court to the consultation process. The legal challenge, which could reach Judicial Review, could have significant consequences nationally.
The campaign within the Labour Party in Newham has turned around a council which previously backed academisation to a situation where a Full Council meeting in March passed a motion saying it ″strongly discourages schools from considering academisation″ and calling for parental and staff ballots in schools that still plan to academise.
Strikes against academisation have also happened at Village school in Brent, though the academisation was unfortunately not stopped.
Strikes against appraisal systems at City of London Academy in Southwark resulted in victory after three days of strikes (see: bit.ly/2GfMbrk), and NEU members at Leopold School in Brent won a last minute deal which they discussed on the school gates on the planned day of strike before returning to work over an ″unacceptable management style″.
Victories were also won at a number of other schools before strikes took place, including Haverstock in Camden over redundancies, Oaklands in Tower Hamlets over absence policies, Nightingale in Enfield over workload, and St Aloysius in Islington over appraisal.
Strikes are also planned at Connaught school in Walthamstow over pay (see bit.ly/2pIj2yz) after Easter.
