Teachers working for the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) are set to vote over strike action over pensions, The Telegraph reports.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) will vote in an indicative ballot on whether to launch strike action over the trust’s plans to leave the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS).
It is understood to be the first time in the 149-year history of the trust that there will be a national ballot over strike action.
Union leaders say the GDST’s decision to leave the TPS will leave the teachers, who work across 23 independent schools, worse off than those working in local state schools.
The trust has said 280 independent schools have already left the pension scheme since the employer’s contribution rose from 16.48 per cent to 23.68 per cent in 2019.
Private schools which choose to remain have already warned that the increase could result in them having to charge higher fees.
Cheryl Giovannoni, the chief executive of the GDST, underscored the issues motivating the change and said the trust was proposing an “excellent” alternative pensions proposal and had consulted fully with staff.