A prominent teachers' leader from Northern Ireland has said she is 'devastated' at being suspended from her union's ruling body. Susan Parlour, a high-profile former Northern Ireland president of the NASUWT teaching union, has been barred from sitting on its UK National Executive for 12 months.
Ms Parlour alleged that there had been a 'concerted campaign' to oust her from the union. A NASUWT spokesperson said the BBC had been 'provided with information about internal matters within the NASUWT which is misleading and inaccurate'.
BBC News NI has seen the minutes of a NASUWT appeal hearing into Ms Parlour's suspension, which took place on 14 June. It said that she had 'behaved in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the union'. Ms Parlour faced a number of complaints including 'acting in a manner that risked prejudicing staff disciplinary procedures'.
She was also accused of 'approaching members of the National Executive in a bar in an unacceptable manner', and 'acting in an aggressive and unacceptable manner' towards the union's national president. Neither Ms Parlour nor her representative were able to be present at her appeal, but the committee hearing it ruled it could go ahead in her absence.
They decided to uphold an earlier disciplinary committee's decision, that she should be barred from representing Northern Ireland on the NASUWT national executive for a year. Ms Parlour said she was 'truly devastated' by the union's action against her given that she had been elected to her post by teachers in Northern Ireland.
'Over the past 18 months, I believe there has been a concerted campaign to oust me from the union,' she said. 'My crime has been to ask questions which they did not approve of regarding the suspensions of NASUWT staff and calling for the election timetable of the general secretary.' A number of NASUWT members in Northern Ireland have subsequently written to the union to complain about the action against Ms Parlour, with some saying they will consider their membership if her suspension is not overturned.
