GMB have been engaging for sometime with the head teacher at Foxhill Junior and the council to try and negotiate a resolution to the recent alleged abuse by one particular parent.

We want to acknowledge now how hard your head and other staff in your school have been working to try and resolve this and realise it’s been horrendous for all concerned. The difficulty is this is a situation that’s nearly impossible to manage. 

Throughout this process we have urged the council to take legal steps against the parent concerned rather than arrange mediation or send letters which have made little difference. We warned the council over and over again that staff were at risk and this could end in harm being caused to one of our members. No one in any profession should go to school and be verbally or physically assaulted by a child let alone a parent. This is what happened last week.

We have a long-held view within the trade union movement that an attack on one is an attack on all. We don’t feel the council are doing everything they could to protect you and it is for that reason we have taken the difficult decision to ballot you all on strike action and action short of strike. To be clear this is only an indicative ballot and does not mean we will bring you out on strike. But our hope it focuses the minds of the council and they finally take legal action. 

If this is not the case we would ballot you formally by post over the Christmas period and look to call strike dates in the new year. Again, we hope it wouldn’t come to that but it’s important you understand the levels of escalation we are suggesting. We would like to therefore hear from you below as to whether you would be willing to take action.

Please indicate below whether you would be prepared to take action by midday on Tuesday 19^th December.