Lead: do academy employee contracts include a “no strike clause”?

A former employee of the Ashcroft Technology Academy is interviewed on The Green Benches blog and suggests that contracts included a “no strike clause”.

The interview covers a number of employment conditions, including less holiday than in state schools; longer hours; more responsibility; and unclear career progression. It also describes a high turnover of staff: 

“The department I worked in had 17 teaching staff. Only 3 of that 17 remain after 2 years”

What may make this question more newsworthy is that the legality of no strike clauses is unclear, so any reporting could help lead to a change in employment law.

Writing in The Guardian’s Comment Is Free, Keith Ewing argues:

“It begins with the International Labour Organisation’s convention on the right to organise and bargain collectively of 1948, which a British Labour government was the first to ratify; followed by the Council of Europe’s social charter of 1961, which a British Tory government was the first to ratify; followed, in turn, by the UN’s international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights of 1966.

“The British government has been told by the international human rights community that it must relax the existing legal restrictions and stop treating a lawful strike as a breach (rather than a suspension) of the worker’s contract of employment. If our law met our international obligations, it would not be possible for bully boy Willie Walsh unilaterally to withdraw the travel perks of BA crew, as announced this week.”

Anyone want to take this up?

About Paul Bradshaw

Founder of Help Me Investigate. I'm a visiting professor at City University London's School of Journalism, and run an MA in Online Journalism at Birmingham City University. I publish the Online Journalism Blog, and am the co-author of the Online Journalism Handbook and Magazine Editing (3rd edition). I have a particular interest in Freedom of Information and data journalism.
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