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Any Other School Staff Going On Strike?

My other half is an Ed Psych so she is in contact with a lot of schools and a lot of different teachers. There are messages going around today from the unions encouraging the teachers to reserve their right not to go in if they feel unsafe (I.e. not a strike). This week is going to be shambolic and will result in the schools switching over to online teaching for the majority but with the government saying “wasn’t us mate, blame the teachers” which was presumably what they had planned all along.

Bang on.

You just know that infection rates will continue to go up this week. The irony is that if they had a week or two planned already after seeing this and announced it early it would put us all in a stronger position to get schools back for the following weeks. I fear they’ll close for longer now.
 

I’m a teacher and I’m going in as my union haven’t advised none attendance. Absolutely respect all sides of the argument here.
Teachers will get support, understanding and sympathy from those in the general public with a brain. Unfortunately, as has been proved so many times recently, the Venn Diagram showing those people with a brain and those without looks depressingly like a penny farthing.
 
They were always unsafe. SAGE last year said more harm would be done keeping them shut so said for the balance of risk it’s best to keep them open. They now think dangers of transmission outweigh harm of kids missing out on school, an interesting conclusion after it emerged many children are suffering from eating disorders as a consequence of the schools being shut.

So what's changed, children are at no more risk due to the virus and if there is more transmission then it's up to the government to look at the bigger picture which they have and are closing Primary schools in the high transmission areas.
 
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There are no strikes, however individuals can invoke section 44 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and refuse to go into a work environment which is in their opinion unsafe.

Hence unions are advising members to consider their safety at work and to be available for work in a safe space.

Section 44 of HSWA is

44 Appeals in connection with licensing provisions in the relevant statutory provisions.

Not sure how this applies.
 
So what's changed, children are at no more risk due to the virus and if there is more transmission then it's up to the government to look at the bigger picture which they have and are closing Primary schools in the high transmission areas.
The political picture has changed, they’ve promised it’ll be all over by Easter. The scientific rationale is the new variant, not no evidence to suggest it transmits more easily amongst children.
 
So what's changed, children are at no more risk due to the virus and if there is more transmission then it's up to the government to look at the bigger picture which they have and are closing Primary schools in the high transmission areas.
The new variant of the virus spreads quicker and easier than the old one, and is also more prevalent in younger people.
Those kids will go home and infect their families.
Keep the schools open and you keep the virus spreading.
 
The new variant of the virus spreads quicker and easier than the old one, and is also more prevalent in younger people.
Those kids will go home and infect their families.
Keep the schools open and you keep the virus spreading.
A lot of that was already the case other than some of your opening sentence, there’s no hard evidence to suggest its more prevalent amongst younger people.
 
Not sure striking has been mentioned. I certainly won't be. I'll be delivering remote learning and earning my wage if needed. My daughter's school (Mill Hill) have just announced that they're not opening though. Possibly due to staffing but I'm not sure.
 
My issues with that is defining critical workers? For example if a kid had a single parent and they work in say a chemical plant, that wouldn’t be regarded as ‘critical workers’ would it? But still hard for someone in that position to get time off. Feel for all the parents out there. This situation is crazy.

Why not?
If chemical plants aren't monitored and maintained they could go BANG!
 
There are no strikes, however individuals can invoke section 44 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and refuse to go into a work environment which is in their opinion unsafe.

Hence unions are advising members to consider their safety at work and to be available for work in a safe space.
I don’t know where you got that from but it isn’t correct. Only thing I can think of is the responsibility of an employee to notify the employer of anything which could be considered an imminent danger to health or safety, or of anything that is wrong with the employers health and safety arrangements. That is the ‘Management Regulations’ which are basically a reinforcement of HASAWA.
 
Why not?
If chemical plants aren't monitored and maintained they could go BANG!
Was just an example I could think of top of my head, I’ve looked at the criteria and looks like it covers most things but I bet some parents slip through the net. Either schools are open or they are shut for me. The trouble is as a nation we’ve come to rely on them as being crèches as much as we have places of learning.
 
How many schools are not opening this week then? My mates confirmed his school is not opening at mill hill.
 
My partner is a school cleaner and of course a union member too.

The UNISON union has advised not to return to work in the school because of the virus. He has sent an email to them to say he will not go. It is a model letter that the union has sent to us.

As black people we are at bigger risk of the virus anyway (the government has even said this) and they have taken no notice when they make their plans!

Is there other people here who work in the schools and will not go to work tomorrow?

hardly a strike in proper terms
 
Hope the teachers that feel it is "too unsafe" to attend school don't expect any supermarket workers to attend their place of work and are quite happy eating what's in the house for the next fortnight. Wouldn't be like a teacher to be hypocritical now would it?
 
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