Today marks an unprecedented step in ASCL Cymru’s history, as we open our first consultative ballot for national industrial action, in which we will be asking members if they believe we should move to a formal ballot for strike action and/or action short of a strike.
ASCL’s consultative ballot follows a period of extensive consultation including surveys, meetings, and webinars, where we heard the strength of our members’ feelings about the continued underfunding of education and the major consequences this is having both for ASCL members and for the children and young people they serve. This underfunding is exacerbating the already alarming teacher and leader recruitment and retention crisis, through hampering schools’ ability to recruit and retain a sufficient quantity and quality of support staff, teachers, and leaders due to financial restrictions and uncompetitive terms and conditions.
