90 disputes in London schools this academic year
by Bea Gardner, Enfield and Lea Valley Socialist Party
National Education Union (NEU) members across 18 schools in Enfield took strike action on 27 March, after the Labour local authority and other school trusts in the borough imposed a punitive sickness policy. Under the new policy, the number of ‘acceptable’ absence days has been slashed by a third.
Socialist Party members joined the picket lines to offer our support and solidarity.
Alex, NEU rep at Carterhatch Junior School, reported: “I’m really proud of the grassroots work we’ve done to build the dispute over an unfair sickness policy; showing members in Enfield we are prepared to take a stand”.
Other striking workers explained why they were taking action: “We don’t plan to get sick, so it’s not fair to get penalised for it. If we are not 100%, how do we give 100% to the children?”
Another said: “It’s important to not only stand up individually but as a team, united together, showing strength in numbers. It is also important to set that example to the children, of standing up against things that are wrong, unfair and unjust”.
The mood on all the pickets was boosted by the support of those passing by, including bus and delivery drivers. The constant beeping would have no doubt been heard by management and NEU members alike in the Carterhatch Infant School next door. We were told that members in the Infants had not come out due to management intimidation — strikers hoped their buoyant picket line would boost their colleagues.
Chanting strikers at Walker Primary shared that there were a whole number of issues they could have gone on strike over.
At Capel Manor, the head waited to see how strong the strike action was before deciding which children could come in — but the parents on the picket line were in unanimous support of the strike.
The underfunding of schools and local authorities is manifesting in a series of attacks, including measures such as those imposed at Enfield. One of the organisers for the NEU said that the dispute was one of 90 in London this academic year, a trend echoed across the country.