More Shropshire schools to shut over strikes
Saturday 26th November 2011, 10:59AM GMT.
More schools in Shropshire have an- nounced they will close next week as the Government warns trade union laws could be altered to make it more difficult to strike.
The scale of the disruption will see dozens of schools across the county closed as parents struggle to find alternative places for them to go.
Following yesterday’s announcement 48 schools countywide will close next Wednesday, today a further 16 said they will also shut their doors to pupils.
As teachers in Shropshire and Telford take to the picket lines in a row over pensions, Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude condemned their action as ‘stupid and wrong’.
He said current rules give the unions a ‘perverse incentive’ to take industrial action.
He suggested the Government’s determination to act could be strengthened by the fact that some of the unions involved had the support of less than 50 per cent of their members in the strike ballots.
“If very disruptive strike action is carried out on the basis of these weak ballots, weak turnouts, the case for reform gets stronger,” he said.
His comments echoed David Cameron who pointed out this week at Prime Minister’s questions that just a quarter of Unison members and 23 per cent of Unite members voted in favour of industrial action.
Mr Maude said legal change to prevent the unions striking on the basis of ballots where there was a low turnout was ‘an option’.
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I don’t get this bit about weak ballots. Most of the strike ballots had higher returns than the last General election and Council Elections. This is how our democracy works, everyone given the opportunity to vote and a decision made on the basis of the majority who do.
Is the government proposing an Australian style system where everyone eligible to vote has to cast a ballot? That would make our next election interesting.
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