NEU members at Flint High School have today taken their first of two days of strike action this week. Members were on strike today (Tuesday 21 October) and will be tomorrow (Wednesday 22 October) due to the employer’s continuing failure to deal with bullying behaviour from the Headteacher and the inability of the school's leadership to tackle high levels of behavioural issues.
Whilst there have been meetings between union officials, the local authority, and school management, members continue to be denied the opportunity to speak directly with the full governing body.
NEU Cymru understands that a full governing body meeting was due to take place on Thursday 16 October but only a handful of governors took the time to attend.
Nicola Fitzpatrick, Wales Secretary for the National Education Union Cymru, said:
”NEU members are now on their 7th and 8th days of industrial action. Not only are the governing body unwilling to meet with our members but they seemingly cannot ensure a quorate meeting during a dispute which has already seen 6 days of industrial action. If this is the level of scrutiny the school leadership has had in recent years perhaps it is now less of a mystery how we got to the stage of having to take strike action.”
Liz McLean, NEU Executive Member for Wales, said:
“The commitment our members are showing to ensure a safe working environment for all staff and all learners is inspiring. When members win this dispute, and we know that they will with levels of support the local community has shown them, the school will come out in a much stronger state.”
Liz McLean added:
“Other members throughout the union are watching the dispute in Flint High with admiration. I’m sure we will soon see many other workplace groups taking action in their workplaces and refusing to suffer in silence any longer.”