Today saw support staff at Ash Field SEND Academy in Leicester take the first of three days of strike action in the latest round of their battle to defend their union rep.
The employer - Discovery Schools Academy Trust (DSAT) - has suspended Unison rep Tom Barker. When its own investigation revealed no evidence that he had done anything wrong, DSAT started another one in the hope of getting the answer that it wants!
This has left staff without a rep for six months, and DSAT paying a teaching assistant to stay at home rather than to work. DSAT must think that this costly attempt at union-busting is a price worth paying to relieve itself of an effective rep.
This morning, pickets were out from 7.30pm, with a large picket at the front of the school facing the main road - complete with stall and refreshments! - and a smaller picket at another entrance.
They will strike again in two weeks' time (13 and 14 May), and there is talk of spreading the action to other schools in the multi-academy trust.
Nearly all the support staff at Ash Field are Unison members and are strongly backing the strike.
The local NEU district is actively supporting the strike, showing that even if the leaderships of the different unions struggle to get along, rank-and-file activists can do so!
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