Strike action is never something any educator takes lightly, but sometimes it’s a necessary last resort.
The sad reality is that education in the borough is at breaking point. Years of underfunding have left our schools in a sorry state, and the system no longer serves either pupils or staff.
There is a severe recruitment and retention crisis in education. The two most common reasons for women to quit the sector are the motherhood penalty and excess workload.
What are the issues in Waltham Forest?
Maternity
Waltham Forest’s maternity policy is substandard and outdated. Compared to some other London boroughs, educators who go on maternity leave here are left worse off to the tune of thousands of pounds. No woman should suffer a detriment for taking maternity leave.
Excessive workload
Cut after cut has left our schools running on empty. Every member of staff made redundant leaves other staff to pick up their work, on top of already excessive workloads. This leads to a worse standard of education for our pupils. The situation has become completely unsustainable.
Victimisation
In some schools we have seen elected NEU representatives specifically targeted for redundancy. We believe this is because they have spoken out against the unacceptable state of our school system. We cannot and will not allow attacks on union representatives who have been elected by their fellow educators.
What can the council do?
The NEU is demanding that Waltham Forest Borough Council and other school employers start taking seriously educators’ demands.
We will be polling our members on their willingness to take action on the issues of both maternity provision and excessive workload. We will move to a formal strike ballot across the borough if no progress is made on these key issues.
The decision-makers of the council can meet with the NEU to resolve these issues and to work with us to improve education in the borough.