Teachers to strike against cuts
Lynda McEwan, West Dunbartonshire parent and Socialist Party Scotland
West Dunbartonshire Secondary school teachers will strike on 12th January in response to the Labour council’s attempts to impose a restructure of management positions in its five Secondary schools.
These changes would have a serious detrimental effect on teaching and learning.
Teachers, after a campaign by the union involving consultation meetings with all members, an indicative ballot and a strike action ballot that returned 88% backing for a strike, will take their first action for 30 years – other than the one-day strike over public sector pensions in November 2011.
The EIS’ trade union representatives have outlined how these proposals will have a damaging effect on learning.
“The faculty structure will result in the removal of some specialist principal teacher posts and departments being grouped together under a faculty head.
Examples include a Modern Languages department being managed by an English specialist , an Art department being managed by an Music specialist, a Home Economics department being managed by a PE specialist.
A small number of these faculties already exist in West Dunbartonshire and the experience of teachers involved is that they are fraught with problems and the workload is unmanageable.
This is also reflected across the country where evidence shows the detrimental effects to teaching and to pupils learning experience.
We think these are cuts which damage the frontline service of delivering quality experience for secondary pupils.
There has been a continued refusal to accept the level of anger among teachers but this was clearly demonstrated when union officials invited management to meet teachers in branch meetings in both Clydebank and Dumbarton before the most recent ballot.
Teachers in West Dunbartonshire are extremely dedicated and take pride in providing a quality education for our young people. They are prepared to take this action to protect this quality of service for their pupils.”
austerity cuts
In addition, as pupil support teachers are also to be reduced in number the concern for most teachers and parents is that in an area already suffering from severe deprivation, attainment levels will fall as the detrimental effects of these cuts in services is felt.
West Dunbartonshire has the second highest figure for residents depending on welfare benefits with 26% of children currently growing up in poverty. Average life expectancy is the second lowest of all Scottish local authorities.
The Labour council has implemented massive budget cuts since 2010. The EIS has called on local councillors to take action and refuse to implement these budget cuts, but so far this request has fallen on deaf ears.
Socialist Party Scotland and the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) fully supports the industrial action by EIS members.
The fightback shown by the West Dunbartonshire EIS association should be taken up by the union on a national level and there is an urgent need to co-ordinate industrial action by the trade unions to fight the massive cuts in local government.
Send messages of support for the West Dunbartonshire teachers to EIS rep Jim Halfpenny
Send protests to the Labour leader of West Dunbartonshire Council, Martin Rooney
martin.rooney@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
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