“By spring, the NEU balloted for strike action, and as a result more than twenty new members joined. The ballot result was phenomenal, smashing the legal thresholds with more than 70 members turning up to the first day’s picket line.”
By Jenny Cooper
Over 100 National Education Union (NEU) members at The Village School in Brent, London, won a U-turn from their Multi-Academy Trust. It followed three days of strikes that completely shut the special school which caters for children with complex needs of all ages.
Back in autumn, a few members approached reps with concerns that their pay had been deducted following hospital appointments and bereavement leave, things which had previously been fully paid. This was an important protection bearing in mind school staff cannot take leave when they choose. On closer inspection, reps discovered the Trust’s Leave of Absence Policy had been altered overnight with no consultation, and the new policy contained clauses which limited all hospital visits, including antenatal appointments, to three-hour limits including travel time.
Many of the staff cannot afford to live close to the school and have long journeys to and from work and were attending appointments in hospital trusts miles from the school. Being a special school, a majority of the workers are support staff in frontline roles, working with some of the most at-risk children in London. These staff are not well paid for the work they do and could not afford to have pay deducted for reasons they could not control, often equality matters such as disabilities and long-term health conditions.
Union reps tried to get the Trust to reverse their decision through negotiations at the school’s JCC, and pointed out that the Trust had gone against their own policies and regulations as well as equality law. They denied this and refused to budge. So by spring, the NEU balloted for strike action, and as a result more than twenty new members joined. The ballot result was phenomenal, smashing the legal thresholds with more than 70 members turning up to the first day’s picket line which was noisy and vibrant with special school-style sensory activities!
After three days of picket protests the same size (despite rain on day 3!), the Trust gave in and restored the original policy and added an improved agreement that future changes to policy can only be by mutual agreement with union reps. All staff that suffered financial loss are to be reimbursed in time for their summer holidays!
STRIKES WORK!
- Jenny Cooper is Executive Representative for District 15 of the National Education Union and Joint Secretary for the Brent District.
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- This article was originally published by Strike Map on 11/6/2025.
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It’s illegal not to pay for time taken for antenatal appointments