IN PICTURES and VIDEO: We feel betrayed on pay, insist striking teachers
Protesting teachers who today launched the first of a series of strikes say they feel 'betrayed' by school bosses over a failure to pay a promised pay increase.
The action by more than 50 members of the NASUWT teachers' union at St Peter's Collegiate School in Compton Park, Wolverhampton, has forced the school to close for safety reasons.
NASUWT spokesman Paul Nesbitt described the strike as 'a last resort' after talks between the two sides broken down. More strikes are planned next week and after Easter.
The annual one-per-cent salary rise was negotiated last term, with an agreement to backdate it to September. Directors at the school, which is in financial difficulties, said the increase would be paid with the help of a loan from the Education Funding Agency(EFA). But the loan has still not materialised, resulting in today's strike.
Some teachers are waiting for pay rises of up to £2,000.
Mr Nesbitt said: "We spoke to the school just before and after Christmas with our concerns. Their argument was that there would be EFA funding and we took it in good faith and went along with it but the initial loan has fallen through.
"We were told 10 days ago that the school were having to start all over again to secure a loan, which has left the teachers angry. They feel betrayed and let down by the board of directors.
"It is the teachers' first annual rise for some time and it is a significant amount. This is not action they have taken lightly but they felt they had no option.
"A lot of schools are in deficit but teachers are their best asset and they should be a priority when it come to paying off debts. We imagine that parents will not be too happy but the school is going to lose a lot of good people if they do not pay the rise."
St Peter's has been frank about its financial problems, admitting that the school has been unable to balance its budget for the current financial year 2015-16 and is seeking assistance from the EFA. But it is committed to paying the salary increase, including back pay, when the relevant funding comes through.
The school has made around £1 million savings since last May but is still in deficit. Around half the money came from not replacing eight staff, mainly support teachers, in the autumn term.
