A FURTHER three-day strike over plans for at least 40 job cuts and the downgrading of roles across nine schools within the St Ralph Sherwin Trust will start tomorrow.

National Education Union (NEU) and Unison members will demonstrate against the proposals they say will decimate schools, increase class sizes and adversely affect the most vulnerable pupils in schools across the trust.

Parents, priests and members of the Catholic community will join their strike picket outside St Barnabus Cathedral in Nottingham at 11am tomorrow.

Last night, union members, parents and members of the Catholic Community were also due to hold a social event in Derby to thank parents and the community for their support.

NEU senior regional organiser Nick Raine said: “While the NEU welcomes our ongoing talks, mass job cuts and down grading are faced by staff across the trust. 

“The Head of Education in the Diocese Peter Giorgio and the Bishop of Nottingham Patrick McKinney have been missing in action despite the perilous state of the schools they have oversight of. 

“We are calling on them to intervene and use their massive reserves of £73,000,000 to save our schools.”

He added: “They also need to address the amount of money sent to the Catholic Education Service and spent centrally on six figure salaries for senior leaders who have presided over this mess at the cost of jobs and pay to some of the poorest front-line staff. 

“This dispute needs to end for the sake of all. That can only happen if plans to sack and downgrade huge numbers of loyal staff are withdrawn and a proper sensible financial recovery is implemented.”  

Trust CEO Kevin Gritton said: “To remain financially sustainable in the long term, the trust does need to make some changes to staffing structures. Even so, we are doing everything we can to limit the impact of these changes.”