NEU strike ballot over poor treatment at Harris schools

A ballot by the National Education Union (NEU) over the Harris secondary schools and sixth forms opens today and will close on the 28th February.

The ballot involves over 700 members of 18 Harris schools and concerns high workloads, unfair pay, and unfair treatment of Caribbean and over overseas trained teachers.

The Harris Federation is a multi-academy trust of 52 primary and secondary academies in and around London

These factors in Harris-run schools are having a serious effect on teacher retention. At the end of the summer term 2023, 27 per cent of teachers in Harris schools had left, which is much higher than in council-maintained schools, where only 15 per cent of teachers left their school. Teacher retention at Harris schools has been in the bottom ten per cent of multi-academy trusts for nine out of the last ten years.

This has triggered an indicative ballot that has led to the NEU’s formal strike ballot, which had an 80 per cent turnout with a 92 per cent yes vote for strike action. The ballot paper reads: “Are you prepared to take part in sustained and discontinuous strike action in furtherance of this dispute.?”

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: “Our members care deeply about education and its role in transforming pupils’ lives. But for many working in Harris schools the work is no longer sustainable, with over a quarter of Harris teachers leaving last year.

“All employers make choices about where and how they spend their money. Harris has the highest paid executives in the country. CEO Dan Moynihan is the highest paid education employee in England, receiving between £560-570k annually (total package), nearly £200,000 better paid than any other academy CEO.

“Harris needs to address the working conditions of our members and spend more money on the things our pupils really need — excellent teachers, and excellent support staff. Harris schools, colleges, parents, children and young people all deserve better.”