Teachers strike over working conditions

7:36am Thursday 10th July 2008

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TEACHERS at a North-East school will today become the first in the region for more than 20 years to walk out over a non-national dispute.

The planned one-day strike is going ahead after 11th-hour talks broke down.

About 50 teachers are expected to be involved in the industrial action at High Tunstall College of Science, in Hartlepool, over a number of matters including management issues.

A four-and-a-half hour meeting was held on Tuesday to try to resolve their differences, but no progress was made, meaning the school will be closed today.

Officials from the National Association of Schoolmasters and of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) attended the meeting at Hartlepool Civic Centre.

Headteacher Mirjam Buhler- Willey was present along with the chair of governors.

Teachers are believed to have been working to rule in recent weeks.

Incidents at the school have included teachers' photos being taken by mobile phones and posted on social networking websites.

Sue Foreman, of NASUWT, said: "It is the first strike in the North-East of its kind for well over 20 years. There have been individual strikes in other parts of the country, but not in this region."

She added: "We have made some progress but the strike action is still going ahead on Thursday because we have not made enough progress for me to be able to call it off.

"We need time to re-build the relationships that have broken down and we are going to meet in September after we have had an opportunity for the management of the school to do some work, and then we meet to review what has been done and take stock of what progress has been made.

"In the meantime, we are not going to ask members to strike again before the end of term.

"But the action short of strike action will remain in place certainly until September when we meet with them again."

Staff have called strike action because they say they have lost confidence in management.

Many parents picking up their children yesterday afternoon said they were unaware of the pending action.

Margaret Ayre, of Hartlepool, who has a 12-year-old son at the school, said: "It is a valid point if they are not happy with their working conditions. It is the only way they can deal with it."

A parent with a 14-year-old boy at the school, who asked not to be named, said: "It is ridiculous, they need to get this mess sorted out."

Another parent, who also asked not to be named, said: "It is really going to cause me problems. I have got other things to do."

It is believed pupils were due to go on a trip to Flamingo Land before the end of term, but now parents have been told their money will be returned.

A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesman said: "The headteacher, the governing body and the council are all committed to working closely with the union to try to resolve matters at High Tunstall College of Science."