Biggest-ever strike against the practices of a multi-academy trust looms

The largest-ever strike against the working practices of a multi-academy trust is in prospect, as teachers are consulted on industrial action at England’s second-largest chain.

A formal ballot of more than 700 members of the National Education Union at 18 secondary schools and sixth forms run by the Harris Federation opened earlier this week.

The action is being triggered by what the union says are “excessive and unhealthy” levels of workload, which it says can see staff working up to five weeks a year beyond national limits; the details of Harris’s performance pay system; and Harris’s management of Caribbean and other overseas-trained teachers.

The NEU also says that the federation has been struggling on teacher retention, with a quarter of teachers in Harris schools having left at the end of the 2022-23 academic year - a far higher figure than in the local authority maintained sector.

Harris has been pushing back against these points behind the scenes, arguing that it does not require teachers to work beyond its own annual maximum hours, that it has increased its support for overseas staff, and that it pays more than the national teachers’ contract to staff.

The industrial action ballot only relates to Harris secondaries and sixth forms in London. It follows a campaign last year which saw more than 1,000 Harris teachers and support staff sign a letter to Harris urging improvements to their pay and conditions.

The union then followed this with an indicative ballot before Christmas at those Harris schools where more than 60 per cent of members had signed the letter. Some 80 per cent of NEU members at these schools took part in this indicative poll, with 92 per cent of them voting to move forward to the formal ballot, which opened on Monday and will conclude on February 28^th. Current strike laws require a 50 per cent turnout in favour of strike action, with 40 per cent of the membership needing to be in support, for it to go ahead.

While strikes against national education policies have obviously involved more teachers in the past, a strike across the 18 Harris institutions – out of 34 secondaries and sixth forms across the chain - would constitute what is thought to be the biggest ever action against the specific policies of a multi-academy trust.

The question on the formal ballot paper reads: “Are you prepared to take part in sustained and discontinuous strike action in furtherance of this dispute?”

Pay and conditions details

The NEU’s website on its campaign states that, at Harris, which is based in Croydon, south London, “educators are so overwhelmed with work that it is common to work 10- to 12-hour days and still to have to bring home work on evenings and weekends”.

The union is calling for, on workload: substantial increases to planning, preparation and assessment time; guarantees not to be directed to teach during such times; and for the option to do their PPA time at home; reductions in administrative tasks; and an “end [to] excessive duties and meetings”.

On the latter, the union says that, “during the 2023-24 school year, it was found that many Harris secondary and sixth form schools were scheduling their teachers significantly above the statutory minimum of 1,265 hours per year”.

The 1,265-hour annual limit is a feature of the national teachers’ contract, although of course academies do not have to follow this. The union said that, nevertheless, commitments to which Harris teachers have been directed to meet, from lessons to “meetings, interventions and [other] duties” could leave staff having to work up to 155 hours beyond that national benchmark, which equated to nearly five weeks work across the year.

On pay, the union alleges that performance-related pay, which the government now no longer mandates in the non-academy sector, has seen teachers denied progression “if they do not take on additional work, such as interventions”. In added that “many support staff go years without receiving any pay increases”. So union demands include the elimination of performance pay, and for support staff to receive annual pay progression.

The union also wants Harris to follow other trusts and local authorities in allowing union reps to have “facilities time” to carry out their union duties, away from teaching.

The move on “fair treatment for Caribbean teachers and all overseas-trained educators” comes after coverage of this issue by this website and in the Observer.

As I reported in the latter newspaper last September, the union has warned that Jamaican teachers were being paid thousands of pounds a year less than English-trained recruits with similar levels of experience. 

The union said that overseas teachers “have collectively voted for NEU members to advocate” for policies include Harris providing them with a “comprehensive paid induction” to English schools before they start teaching; a “fairly funded and supported QTS [qualified teacher status] process”; and £5,000 for relocation.

Daniel Kebede, the union’s general secretary, 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.”

The NEU said teacher retention at Harris schools had been “in the bottom 10 per cent of multi-academy trusts for nine out of the last 10 years”. Education Uncovered reported on teacher turnover figures for the largest 50 trusts back in October, based on 2021-22 data. This showed Harris having the 12^th-highest figure among these 50, in terms of secondary teachers leaving a school, at 23 per cent. Some 12 per cent departed state-funded teaching in England altogether.

Mr Kebede added: “All employers make choices about where and how they spend their money. Harris has the highest paid executives in the country. CEO [Sir] Dan Moynihan is the highest paid education employee in England, receiving…£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.”

Harris does not respond to requests for comment from Education Uncovered. However, this website is aware of arguments used this academic year by the federation in communications with its secondary teachers.

The trust has argued that it pays a “Harris allowance” of £1,500 to £2,000 a year, which is on top of national pay rates, to teachers. However, its working year is 1,295 hours, which is 30 hours beyond the 1,265 stipulated in the national pay and conditions arrangements which apply in the non-academy sector, and which many academies also follow.

It has denied directing staff to work beyond this 1,295-hour limit, and states that its schools all guarantee the 10 per cent PPA time that features in national pay and conditions.

Harris’s leadership has told teachers that it acknowledges the work can be “exhausting,” but that pupils benefit through the excellent results its schools achieve.

The formal ballot is being conducted at the following schools and sixth form colleges:

Harris Academy Battersea

Harris Academy Beulah Hill

Harris Academy Chobham

Harris Academy Clapham

Harris Academy Greenwich

Harris Academy Merton

Harris Academy Morden

Harris Academy Orpington

Harris Academy Peckham

Harris Academy Rainham

Harris Academy St John's Wood

Harris Academy Wimbledon

Harris Boys' Academy East Dulwich

Harris City Academy Crystal Palace

Harris Clapham Sixth Form

Harris Girls' Academy East Dulwich

Harris Invictus Academy Croydon

Harris Westminster Sixth Form