A SCHOOL in Colwyn Bay has been accused of “fire and rehire” tactics, with trade union members based at the school having balloted to take industrial action.

Rydal Penrhos School, an independent school with primary and secondary school students, is claimed to have been “refusing to engage” with the NASUWT (the Teachers' Union).

The school says it “remains open to engaging with trade unions”, but that communication so far has been “contradictory and inconsistent”.

Neil Butler, NASUWT national official for Wales, said: “NASUWT condemns the use of ‘fire and rehire’ tactics at Rydal Penrhos School.

“NASUWT members at the school have successfully balloted to take industrial action over changes to their pensions.

“At present, the employer is refusing to meaningfully engage with the union, so the NASUWT will be left with no choice but to escalate the dispute, up to and including strike action.

“There is still time to avoid this, but the employer must stop the ‘fire and rehire’ process and start constructively talking to the union.”

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In response to Mr Butler’s comments, Rydal Penrhos said its governors “greatly appreciate and value” its dedicated staff, adding that the school is “thriving as a result of all our staff’s efforts”.

It said that, following a substantial 43 per cent increase in employer contributions towards the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) in 2019, the Government confirmed an additional 21 per cent increase in the pension cost to all schools.

This, Rydal Penrhos said, took the school’s annual contribution to the TPS to more than 28 per cent.

As a result, many independent schools are reviewing its existing TPS arrangements, the school added.

Its governors commenced consultation in April for the school to enrol staff in an alternative pension arrangement which, the school says, would provide “greater flexibility and additional employment benefits and entitlements”.

Deborah McKinnel, chair of governors at Rydal Penrhos, said: “Following a period of meaningful individual and collective consultation with our teaching staff and their appointed representatives, a formal process to carefully examine withdrawal from the TPS was undertaken by the school’s governing board.

“This process was conducted in conjunction with external professional support from independent financial and HR advisors to ensure that the school complied with all its legal and contractual obligations.

“Having engaged in a very open and transparent staff consultation process for several weeks which included carefully examining all counter proposals and suggestions from our staff and their representatives, the governing board have decided that it is in the long-term interests of our school and pupils to withdraw from TPS and apply an alternative pension arrangement.

“We have and will continue to support our staff throughout this process and have written to the secretary of state for education to make them aware of our intention to withdraw from the TPS scheme.

“We remain open to engaging with trade unions.

“However, to date, we have received contradictory and inconsistent communications from union officials which, have been regretfully unhelpful.

“We thank all members of the Rydal Penrhos School community for their continued support and look forward to the new academic year.”