Special schools warn of possible classroom closures due to strikes

Disabled children are set to miss out on face-to-face schooling with classes at risk of being called off after the Easter break due to strike action, special schools have warned.
By Niall Deeney
Published 17th Apr 2022, 16:06 BST
Updated 18th Apr 2022, 01:54 BST
Pacemaker Press 21-03-2022: School bus disruption in Northern Ireland as Unite members strike begins. Some school transport, meals and council bin collections will be disrupted by a week-long strike from Monday. More than 2,000 members of the Unite union are taking strike action in a dispute over pay. Staff pictured on strike outside Glenveagh Special School in south Belfast. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.Pacemaker Press 21-03-2022: School bus disruption in Northern Ireland as Unite members strike begins. Some school transport, meals and council bin collections will be disrupted by a week-long strike from Monday. More than 2,000 members of the Unite union are taking strike action in a dispute over pay. Staff pictured on strike outside Glenveagh Special School in south Belfast. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.
Pacemaker Press 21-03-2022: School bus disruption in Northern Ireland as Unite members strike begins. Some school transport, meals and council bin collections will be disrupted by a week-long strike from Monday. More than 2,000 members of the Unite union are taking strike action in a dispute over pay. Staff pictured on strike outside Glenveagh Special School in south Belfast. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.

While strike action by members of the Unite trade union who work for the Education Authority is likely to have an impact across all school sectors, special schools in particular could see the most disruption.

The Education Authority provides school transport directly through the so-called ‘yellow buses’ for special school pupils.

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Non-teaching staff employed by the Education Authority are also expected to be involved in the strike action, from April 26 to May 1 and again from May 3 to 8 following the bank holiday weekend.

Unite members are striking over pay, with union officials warning a 1.75% pay offer is not enough amid soaring inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

All of Northern Ireland’s local councils, along with staff in the Housing Executive, are due to see Unite members go on strike later this month over a similar two-week period, although there is some variation with dates.

And in a separate pay dispute, members of the Unite and GMB trade unions who drive buses for Translink are also set to take to picket lines from April 25 onwards in a move set to effectively shut down the bus network and cause further disruption to schools.

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A special school, Rossmar in Co Londondery, told parents in a letter that the forthcoming industrial action “may have a significant impact”.

Rossmar principal Caroline Clements told parents: “There is a posibility that school transport services will be affected and also some non-teaching staff could take part in the industrial action.

“If this is the case and we are unable to provide all of our face to face teaching safely, some classes may either have to move to remote learning or classes will split into a week on/ week off rota.”

And a special school in Belfast has told parents it will again be “disproportionately affected” by the Education Authority workers’ strike, after a week-long strike by Unite members last month forced it to shut classrooms. In a letter to parents reported by the BBC, Glenveagh special school principal Anne Moore said the “acute vulnerabilities of our pupils” and the “vastly higher number of support staff who are members of Unite the Union” meant it would be “disproportionately affected by the strike action” again.

The Education Authority has said it will publish updates online about disruption.

Related topics:Education AuthorityUniteTranslinkGMBNorthern Ireland