Unite the union continues to back the original decision made by
Greenwich council to move classes online from today (Tuesday 15
December).
Unite accused the education secretary , who has
ordered the south London council to keep the schools open, of ‘a
lack of forward planning’.
Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “We fully support the
original difficult decision taken by Greenwich council.
“We all want to see children back in school. However, the action
taken by the council shows something that the government has
lacked throughout this crisis – a coherent forward planning
strategy.
“If local health experts can see that action needs to be taken to
deal with rising infections, then why wait until things get
worse?
“We have previously made the point, when the government chose to
rely on the likes of the controversial outsourcer Serco, that
local health experts must be utilised fully – they know their
communities best with a good understanding of cultural
sensitivities.
“Rather than education secretary threatening
the council with legal action for taking a common sense measure
based on forward planning, the government should be concentrating
on getting its own house in order.”
Unite national officer for local government Ian Woodland said:
“Unite has been calling on the government to allow local councils
across England to be allowed to make their own decisions,
depending on the individual circumstances in their locality.”
“Local councils are in the best position to make decisions to
protect their communities.”
