Staff at Roedean School in East Sussex have called off three days of strike action this week after employers made a new offer.
The staff belonging to the National Education Union (NEU) at the Brighton girls’ school went on strike last week for the first time in the school鈥檚 140-year history, over job losses, pay cuts and cuts to teachers鈥 pensions.
But three days of strike action planned for this week have now been called off after a new offer covering pension provision, pay and redundancy pay was negotiated, the NEU said.
The NEU said the offer will now be put to members in an online poll to decide whether to end the dispute at the school.
The unprecedented strike action took place after Roedean鈥檚 governors proposed a cap on the school鈥檚 contribution to the Teachers鈥 Pension Scheme to 22 per cent, with teachers asked to make up the shortfall to 28.68 per cent through their wage packets. The union described an option to move to a proposed private defined contribution scheme as 鈥渋nferior鈥.
It is also understood that the school is making redundancies as part of cost-saving measures.
The strike action comes as independent schools across the country face a financial squeeze due to the introduction of VAT on fees, the loss of charitable business rates relief and increased employer National Insurance contributions.
A total of 23 schools have announced closure plans since January 1st this year.
