It has transpired today that Sir Alan Davies, head teacher of Copland School in Wembley, has been suspended after serious allegations over pay and bonuses. He, and two other members of senior management have been accused of awarding themselves around £1 million in bonuses over the last seven years, on top of their already significant pay packets.
It seems, then, that Fred the Shred and other bankers are not the only ones raking it in while the rest of us pay for a recession of their making. In the education sector in particular, where funding for more staff and better resources is tight, this comes as a real kick in the teeth for those of us working in schools up and down the country. While workers slave away to try to make our ridiculously mismanaged education system function properly, those at the top (already taking the credit for our hard work, of course) are sucking the education system dry. Sadly, Davies and his cohorts at Copland School are only one extreme example of many instances such as this.
While Brent Council have done the honourable thing and suspended the three managers, the government seem reluctant to make any systematic changes to ensure that senior management in schools, and elsewhere in the education sector, do not do this in the future. While government ministers wine and dine with the likes of the National Assication of Head Teachers, education workers are told to shut up and not ask for job security or pay increases because the economic situation is too dire. On the contrary, now is the time to turn the screw on these parasites.
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UCU have already taken the lead in balloting their members for strike action over pay and redundancies, but symbolic one-day strikes even if successful will be like putting a plaster on a gaping head wound. The IWW believes in democracy and accountability in all areas of life, and we must hold bosses accountable through everyday workplace organisation and direct action at the grassroots. Take a look at our education workers pages for more information.