GDST Trustees

[Common]

How has the GDST Board of Trustees managed to create the first strike by staff in 149 years?

Cheryl Giovannoni and her board have treated a unique educational institution in the UK based on values, ideals and morals like a business because they fundamentally fail to comprehend the ethos of service that powers the GDST.

Too many independent schools keep remodeling to keep up with other schools. A school needs to be safe, clean, and have reasonably modern technology. It’s better to invest in human resources; teachers have so much influence on young people. However, expecting any employer to make such large defined benefit contributions is unreasonable. In the States, many public unions have switched to defined contribution to remain sustainable.
If independent schools can’t afford to provide textbooks, why not charge parents for them? It’s common practice on the other side of the pond.

The GDST rents extremely expensive offices in Victoria at a cost of millions annually. Do parents know that so much of their fees is used in this way? The organisation refuses to consider moving to somewhere cheaper.
On top of this, the CEO earns in the region of £280,000. They could save money by looking at Executive Pay as well.
But no negotiation is their position. They expect the staff to capitulate. I call that a dictatorship.

Erica I would be astonished if GDST schools didn't charge parents for textbooks!

@Phineyj

Erica I would be astonished if GDST schools didn't charge parents for textbooks!

They may do so but within the context of the termly/annual fee rather than as an "extra"

The GDST rents extremely expensive offices in Victoria at a cost of millions annually. Do parents know that so much of their fees is used in this way? The organisation refuses to consider moving to somewhere cheaper.

Clearly wrong unless their auditors have signed off false accounts. Their total operating lease costs are £1.3M per annum, which is a lot but I wouldn't class it as "millions". It represents around 0.5% of their income. I don't know if it is all spent on the head office or if they are renting other property elsewhere (or, indeed, if they are renting some equipment). If the head office is the only operating lease they have, it looks like they are committed to stay there for the next 11 years. Unless the lease contains a break clause, they can only leave if the landlord agrees or if they can pass the lease on to someone else (although the landlord may want GDST to provide a guarantee in that situation).

On top of this, the CEO earns in the region of £280,000. They could save money by looking at Executive Pay as well.

I agree that the CEO's pay is high (just shy of £290k including employer's pension contributions in the most recent accounts), but she and other executives are employees and have the same rights as other employees. GDST cannot simply cut their pay.

@SeasonFinale- At American independent schools, textbooks and school supplies are extras, often quite expensive. My old school was charging £450 for an Art History textbook five years ago.

We were big fans of GDST until half way through the pandemic they decided to 'phase out' boys at Shrewsbury High School where our children were. You might wonder what boys were doing in a GDST school but in this occured due to a merger with a boys prep school. Parents and children were treated in a shocking manner. No consultation whatsoever. It was a complete disaster. Half of the boys had left within a term and after 1 year about 20 per cent left who will all leave this year. The size of the prep school is less than half what it was as some of the girls have left too (anticipating a co-ed junior education)... Total shambles. There was no compassion for these families or children who had to find new schools at a time when schools were in bubbles / closed etc. GDST strikes me as a very hard nosed organisation.

I think charities have to be hard nosed these days but although strictly their charitable objects say nothing about how they treat their teachers, seeing charities that are supposedly pro women treat a majority female workforce in such a cavalier fashion leaves a really bad taste.

They can of course replace experienced staff with young non unionised ones who know no better re pay and conditions, but it's not a good look.

They are trading on the fact that most teachers aren't very clued up about financial matters.

As well as defined contribution schemes being less generous than defined benefit schemes (we worked out it could mean £10,000 less a year in retirement - no picnic if you're the breadwinner) there is a gender pay gap in pensions as well as pay.

I bet if you look at GDST senior management you'll find it's male dominated.

I have no connection with GDST by the way.

GDST senior management is pretty much all women. We were disappointed by their complete lack of compassion. And during a pandemic - classy!

The employer contributions being requested by TPS are not actually that high for a defined benefit pension scheme, but well above what most private sector employers contribute to a defined contribution scheme.

As of this year, there is finally a third type of pension option being developed, which sits somewhere between the two - it is called Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) and is what Royal Mail and its unions eventually agreed as a solution to their pension dispute. It has taken time for the legal framework to be put in place by government but the Royal Mail scheme will hopefully become a reality in the next year or so.

Have the unions and teachers talking to the GDST management broached this as an option? (Note, right now there is a catch, which is that the legislation doesn’t allow a multi-employer CDC scheme, but with enough pressure on the DWP for change I do think this could be made to happen).

@PensionPerson I doubt it. They seem dead-set on pulling out completely. I don’t think teachers would go for this either as they would still be in a worse-off position compared to their State Sector colleagues.

Teachers are already starting to leave over this.

There is also an option called conditional phased withdrawal where the organisation agrees with its staff that if the employer contributions rise to a particular level, staff can choose to pay the difference and/or leave TPS at that point. That gives older staff the opportunity to stay in and younger staff the opportunity to bump up take home pay (useful for e.g. housing ladder).

There's actually quite a few options other than all in or all out.

I'm sorry to hear that MrPickles73 and I would not want to send my DD somewhere that was horrible to its staff (for the record though, I don't expect women to be more compassionate than men, but I do expect charities that advocate for young women to be fair to older ones).

@prh47bridge The CEO had a considerable pay-rise this year where teachers did not.

Just wanted to say I support the GDST teachers. Our DC are not going to school on the strike days. We absolutely support you.

Good for you Agatha. They can read about the suffragettes instead and about those first women to go to medical school (the men threw eggs at them).

@Phineyj The teachers suggested phased withdrawal as a compromise but GDST flatly refused.

Thank you @AgathaMystery, that really means so much.

We are looking at gdst schools for DD and this doesn’t change our mind - really interesting to read that 64% of Indy schools are not in the pension. The school I’m looking at for DS has never been on the pension and has 1000 students and great teachers. My cousin teaches in a school which isn’t in the pension (Wetherby) and they haven’t had any trouble with staff - they have great teachers like him, because there are extra holidays, lovely kids etc, They are being offered a lot compared to my pension! Also the CEO salary is nothing compared to some heads salaries even, in schools like Highgate, St Pauls, Westminster, Brighton college they all earn more than that salary and are only running one school! You can see it here: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/private-school-pay-list-rise-in-100-000-salaries-sparks-fears-of-brain-drain-mcwcp2zrj and this was two years ago so probably higher now. Head of one girls school (Malvern) is on a higher salary.

[quote Surelyitscoffeetime]@prh47bridge The CEO had a considerable pay-rise this year where teachers did not.[/quote]
Indeed she has, after having no pay rise last year and a small rise the previous year. However, I am not defending her pay. It seems very high to me, but I am not in a position to judge whether her salary is justified. My point was that, whilst she can be denied future pay rises, her pay cannot be cut. The same is true for other high-paid employees.

The employer contributions being requested by TPS are not actually that high for a defined benefit pension scheme, but well above what most private sector employers contribute to a defined contribution scheme.

Agree completely. The level of employer contributions required is the reason most private sector employer don't offer defined benefits schemes. According to the Pensions Regulator, there are fewer than 550 such schemes that are still accepting new members, and that number is steadily falling.

Surely well if the management wouldn't negotiate on anything then they only have themselves to blame for the industrial action. This is people's livelihoods.

I find it particularly distasteful when I imagine that they required teachers to teach from their homes, with their own equipment, during the lockdowns (however difficult and stressful that may have been) and no doubt are requiring hybrid learning in the classroom (simultaneously teaching kids in room and kids at home) and probably require staff to continue planning and teaching from home when they do have Covid 'if they're well enough'.

One school I came across (not GDST, chain academy) docked a colleague's pay as she was off with Covid longer than the 11 days. She caught it on a school trip and was severely ill.

DC school is running an alternative program and the strike falls in a big art festival week which DC ADORE. They decided they are not going to go in to support their teacher but they were upset to miss the fun activities. The activities are being run by support staff which I suspect has pitted teachers Vs their support colleagues. Awful.

As parents we are under HUGE pressure to send the girls in. Huge.

So you'd be fine with your employer proposing to unilaterally cut your pay as stated in your contract and saying you'd be fired if you don't accept the new contract, would you; prh?

I mean if I saw a job advertised at a school and they were clear that it didn't come with TPS and they offered X pension scheme, I'd evaluate that on its own merits.

It's a bit different to work somewhere 5, 10, 15 years and then be told it's going to change. Another issue with the change is that TPS permits retirement on ill health grounds at any age whereas DC schemes generally don't.

This is not a theoretical argument. There are actual teachers out there with chronic health conditions (like long Covid!) in that position.

@prh47bridge It really is one rule for them, one rule for us as she is giving her teachers a pay-cut by the back door. If I pay in a higher percentage than I do on the TPS, I will still stand to lose £12k a year in my retirement.

Spot on @Phineyj.

@Phineyj

So you'd be fine with your employer proposing to unilaterally cut your pay as stated in your contract and saying you'd be fired if you don't accept the new contract, would you; prh?

I mean if I saw a job advertised at a school and they were clear that it didn't come with TPS and they offered X pension scheme, I'd evaluate that on its own merits.

It's a bit different to work somewhere 5, 10, 15 years and then be told it's going to change. Another issue with the change is that TPS permits retirement on ill health grounds at any age whereas DC schemes generally don't.

This is not a theoretical argument. There are actual teachers out there with chronic health conditions (like long Covid!) in that position.

No I wouldn't. I am not defending GDST. If that is what they are doing, that is wrong and any teacher fired may have a case for unfair dismissal.

Many private sector employees have faced being told that their defined benefits scheme is closing, either completely or to new members, and that in future they will be on a defined contributions scheme.

I am not sure that you are right about ill-health retirement. Many DC schemes do allow you to get your benefits early in the case of ill health but I don't know whether that is the majority or the minority, and I certainly don't know whether that is true of the scheme GDST is proposing.

By the way, some of the figures for how much pension people will lose look excessive to me. For a start, I presume GDST aren't taking your contributions to date out of TPS - I can see no reason for them to do so. So the part of your pension you have already earned is preserved.

It is true that, if you take an annuity, you would need an above average level of contributions to buy an annuity that gives you the same pension as you would get from a defined benefit scheme but, even for a full lifetime, the differences being talked about here seem excessive and some people will be happy with the greater flexibility offered by defined contribution schemes.

None of this is to justify what GDST is doing. I am never happy when an employer tells staff it will sack them to force through a change in their employment terms. I can understand why they don't want to wait and see what happens to TPS contributions as the union suggests - given the state of TPS finances, contributions will almost certainly go up. But the amount they say they will save seems small compared to their turnover - much smaller than I was expecting given the number of staff they employ.