TA being told to cover a non-striking teacher tomorrow??

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I have emailed my Union re this but not had a reply yet.

I've been told that I am covering a non-striking teacher during the strike day tomorrow - her Union isn't striking. I'm not sure what she will actually being doing which requires me to cover her.

i would certainly refuse to cover her if she was striking (and know my school can't ask me to do that) but not sure what I can or can't do in this situation.

Anyone have any advice please?

I'm assuming she is off for a pre-planned reason such as a medical appointment?

If cover is part of your normal role, then I think in this situation unfortunately you can't refuse.

If you don't normally cover staff absence, then you could definitely ask to have more discussion about this e.g. higher rates of pay for cover etc.

I think you would be within your rights to refuse something outside your normal duties e.g. covering an amalgamated class- but do check with your union rep.

I'm assuming you're not in the NEU, but if there's a rep in your school ask them for advice.

If your school has a picket line, you could refuse to cross. Unfortunately, you would lose a day's pay in this situation.

Thank you for replying.

The teacher will still be in school - I asked if she was covering a striking teacher but didn't get a definitive answer.

i often cover for absences (but none of us get paid more for that).

My Union is the GMB and we don't have a union rep at school.

I really can't afford to lose a days pay and also, it's highly likely SLT will be cutting staff this summer and I'm worried if I refuse, I might move to the top of the "not a team player" list!

Hi,

I hope you were able to make a decision you were comfortable with today. Unfortunately if cover is normal, I believe they can ask you to cover.

It would damage my relationship with the teacher if she'd chosen to cover for non-striking staff, leaving you to cover the class- but I'm not sure there's much you can do about that.

Given what you've said about your school, I'd suggest joining a union with a rep in school e.g. NEU.

My experience of Unison and GMB for TAs is that they are often not very helpful and slow to respond in situations like this- you're much better being in a union where you've got a rep in school you can talk to.

Redundancies have to be decided fairly, and the school would not be on firm ground taking into account actions on a strike day. But if redundancies happen, they must follow a fair process.

On my lunch hour atm, apparently teacher is covering for a striking colleague (which I found out at break time), so I said I wasn't happy to cover for the resort of the day or tomorrow.

Hasn't gone down well but so be it.

I know, theoretically, redundancies have to be fair, but I think we all know that they can find ways to get rid of the people they don't want. Last year, a TA who had been here for years but ruffled the wrong feathers was given a class in one of our other Academy Trust schools which is 12 miles away for this academic year. As she doesn't drive, she would have had to get (and pay for) a train and her commute went from 10 mins walk to over an hour. This is perfectly legal according to her Union.

You won't be surprised to hear that she resigned last summer.

Still, it's done now so I guess I just wait and see - it is interesting though that it was a member of SLT who took over the class today which makes me think non of the other Support Staff were willing to step in! Safety in numbers I hope.

This is perfectly legal according to her Union.

It's probably legal- especially depending on the terms of her contract, but a good in school rep would have advocated for her and pointed out why this wasn't a good suggestion.

I'm glad the other support staff didn't step in.

Also, really well done for refusing to cover, I know that must have been really difficult.