Jane Doolan writes to the Islington Tribune on The Bridge School

Dear Editor

 

Islington UNISON is very disappointed that a meeting of school governors took the decision to apply for Academy status. UNISON and NUT members lobbied the governors. The unions have met with the Head Teacher and a school governor to raise our concerns and we will continue to highlight those concerns throughout the summer.

 

 

Apart from our opposition to academies we have genuine concerns around the terms and conditions of our members. In particular the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)

 

In a letter to staff following the governors decision. They wrote "You are correct to refer to the LGPS deficit that will be transferred to the Multi Academy Trust (MAT). This has arisen from the way the scheme has been run. Your rights to future  benefits are protected by government guarantee, however it is a financial burden that in the opinion of the governors is improperly born by the MAT. It should be borne by Central Government and we have written to the Minister asking it to do so and would ask the unions to bring pressure to bear to the same effect".

 

This is of grave concern to UNISON members and w are currently seeking legal advice.

 

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Jane Doolan

 

UNISON Branch Secretary

(Jane Doolan, Branch Secretary of Islington UNISON, second from left next to Jeremy Corbyn)