Powys teachers strike over job losses and 'poor management'

Trust and confidence in Llangors Church in Wales Primary School's leadership is said to have "completely broken down" over the past two-and-a-half years which has left an "entirely avoidable redundancy situation".

NASUWT - The Teachers’ Union claims the redundancy consultation process has been "mismanaged" which has led to stress and uncertainty among teachers at the village school near Brecon.

NASUWT added that it had written to Powys County Council with a view to resolving, together with school governing body, the "serious issues" which have led to the formal industrial dispute and have been left "deeply disappointed" by PCC's response which has been described as "non-existent".

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Teachers will be taking action short of strike on Monday, April 8, before beginning the first strike day on Wednesday, April 10, with plans for more industrial action through April, May and June. The issues are over adverse management and employer practices, potential job loss, health and safety, working conditions and redundancy.

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT, said: “Teachers’ trust and confidence in Llangors Church in Wales school leadership has completely broken down.  Their reasons for this have been submitted, at length and in detail, to the full governing body. We understand these concerns were withheld from the full governing body.

"The full governing body cannot make informed decisions in the best interests of the school community if information specifically addressed to them is being blocked. Genuine consultation is needed. It is time for openness and transparency and for the teachers' voices to be heard."

The first strike day will be on Wednesday, April 10. (Image: Google Street View)

Neil Butler, NASUWT National Official Wales, said: “Our members are not going to pay with their jobs for failures in financial management from the school leadership.

"The response of the Local Authority to NASUWT concerns has been non-existent and that of the Chair of Governors inadequate. We need the employer to engage meaningfully so that we can resolve this dispute.”  

Helen Johns, NASUWT National Executive Member, added: "It is grossly unfair that pupils should pay the price of poor management by losing some of their dedicated and much-loved teachers. 

"We understand the financial strain all schools are under but, to be clear, this is no ordinary redundancy situation. Llangors CiW Primary is different.

"It is not the general budget situation that has pushed the teachers to this unprecedented brink, but the poor management decisions of the past two and a half years, for which there must be full accountability.

"The governing body needs to be vigilant and proactive, and school management must stop keeping stakeholders in the dark."

NASUWT said a key stakeholder, the Swansea and Brecon Diocese, had been excluded from the decision-making process, and now union members are looking to "safeguard the future of the school they love, have not taken these actions lightly". 

In response, Lynette Lovell, Powys County Council’s Director of Education and Children, said: “Schools across Wales continue to face significant pressures due to falling pupil numbers as well as financial pressures including pay, energy and other costs.

“Although the council has agreed to include an additional £4.2m directly into Powys schools delegated budgets, we are unable to fully protect all schools from the funding pressures they face.

Powys County Council's Director of Education and Children Lynette Lovell.

“Governing bodies, like council services, will need to consider how they manage their financial pressures within the resources available to them via the agreed school funding formula. This will mean that they face difficult decisions as to how they realign and set their budgets within the funding available to them.

“Governing bodies have a legal duty to set a balanced budget and failure to do so could result in the council taking appropriate action. However, the council has been proactively supporting schools across the county in their work to realign and set their budgets.

“The council fully supports the school’s governing body in their pro-active approach in dealing with these financial pressures and working to realign and set their budgets and believes that the school has acted in a correct and appropriate manner with the council’s support.

“The council has already met with the trade union regarding Llangors Church in Wales Primary School and relevant officers will continue discussions with them on this matter as it progresses through formal processes.”