NUT union blasts ‘strike-breakers’ at Welwyn Garden City school
STRIKE-BREAKERS are set to be used to keep one Welwyn Garden City school open tomorrow (Thursday).
Teaching assistants (TAs) will be covering classes at Watchlytes, in Panshanger, in a bid to minimise disruption, provoking a furious response from teaching union the NUT.
A school source told the WHT: “It completely defeats the purpose of the strike and undermines the position of any teachers.
“Watchlytes will remain open as usual whereas other schools will only have classes come in where their teacher is from a different union or not striking or will completely close.
“The TAs who have accepted to teach at Watchlytes will make the NUT furious and I am pretty sure they will be in a very small minority.
You may also want to watch:
“They are not entitled to cover the class and are quite in their own rights to say ‘no’.”
Christine Hood, former secretary of Hertfordshire NUT, said: “TAs are not employed to cover lessons, they’re there to assist teachers.
Most Read
- 1 Planning application submitted for 173-space car park and mobile café at park
- 2 Preparation works under way for Stonehills revamp
- 3 Man suffers fractured skull and bleed on the brain after pub assault
- 4 What to do if you see these hazardous caterpillars in a park
- 5 Delight for performing arts school as song hits number one in iTunes classical charts
- 6 Mum's proud of soldier son's guard of honour role at Prince Philip's funeral
- 7 'These heroes deserve a proper pay rise' - Demonstration of support for NHS workers to be held outside New QEII
- 8 The latest court results for Welwyn Hatfield and Potters Bar
- 9 Rail passengers warned of three-day closure at London King's Cross station
- 10 Pregnant woman jailed for more than two years for killing cyclist
“There is an issue if a headteacher is using TAs to strike-break.”
She added: “To use them [teaching assistants] to cover a full day of teaching is screwing them.
“TAs are very badly paid as it is – it’s cover on the cheap.”
The school’s headteacher, Andrew Farrugia, was unavailable for comment.
A worker at the school confirmed it would remain open but refused to comment on whether TAs would be taking over.
