Strike action at a Liverpool school caught up in a row over the catholic church's academy plans has been suspended. Teachers at St Anthony of Padua Primary School in Mossley Hill had staged three days of walk-outs, with members of the National Education Union (NEU) voting to suspend further action following constructive talks with the headteacher and governors.
Background to the dispute
The industrial action centres on plans from the Archdiocese of Liverpool to place the school into the St Joseph Multi Academy Trust. This is part of a wider move, first reported by the ECHO, to bring around 230 schools in the region into a number of super-trusts.
Teachers and parents at the school object to the plans, saying they have been presented as a done deal with little to no consultation from the Archdiocese. The ECHO joined them on the picket line on the first day of strike action earlier this month.
Union confirms suspension
The NEU announced that its members voted to suspend the strike action ahead of a further three days of planned industrial action. The union stressed that the dispute remains unresolved, but said negotiations had led to a "shared understanding" with school management on representations to be made to the Archdiocese regarding "the Bishop's strategy to academise already successful schools such as St Anthony of Padua."
Roz Morton, Industrial Organiser for the NEU, said: "NEU members have been well supported by parents on their picket lines in opposition to the Archdiocese proposal to academise their well-loved school."
Position unchanged
Morton added: "They want to make clear that suspending the strike days this week has happened in recognition of the constructive talks that have taken place with head and Chair of Governors, but the members' position has not changed with regard to their demand for a meaningful consultation on the proposal to academise and their determination to maintain the current employment relationship."
A letter from teachers at the school states: "The dispute is not resolved, but we do believe we have made enough progress in our talks with the head and governors to suspend the strike days that were scheduled for this week."
The letter continues: "The likelihood of further days of strike action will now depend on the response from the Archdiocese to the representations made to them, and any subsequent decisions made by our governors regarding academisation. Our sincere hope is that the Archdiocese reflects on the strength of feeling demonstrated by so many stakeholders in opposition to their academisation strategy and has the humility to recognise that a change of course is necessary."
