Teachers at Bedford Greenacre Independent School set for more strikes this week

Teachers at Bedford Greenacre Independent (BGI) School are striking again this week.

Following their two mornings of industrial action on April 23 and 24, staff at the Shakespeare Road school are planning more strikes this Wednesday and Thursday (May 1 and 2).

The move follows a dispute about pensions as well as what the union says is a fire and rehire policy – and there’ll be further strikes next week.

Earlier this month when announcing the industrial action, Paul McLaughlin – regional secretary for the NEU – claimed teachers were told they would be sacked if they didn’t “accept inferior terms”.

He said: “This is no way to treat loyal hard working and dedicated teachers and is not acceptable to our members. A resolution to this dispute will only come about through dialogue and we call on the governors to get round the table and flesh out a solution that works for everyone.”

While Elizabeth Coley, chair of governors at BGI, responded and said: “Bedford Greenacre Independent School is committed to providing a sustainable pension scheme for our valued teaching staff. The consultation has been implemented because the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) has introduced high increases to employer contributions, so the governing body has been forced to review its pension arrangements.”