TEACHERS CAN ACT OVER DISRUPTIVE PUPILS

Teachers have a legal right to take industrial action that involves refusing to teach children who they consider to be disruptive and unteachable, according to the High Court. In a case taken by parents against teaching union NASUWT, the court held that this form of industrial action is not unlawful, provided there was a proper ballot.

The court ruled that there was a "trade dispute" over terms and conditions. The teachers had refused the headteacher's instructions to admit a particular pupil into the classroom because, in their view, the instruction was unreasonable. They therefore had a legitimate dispute with their employer.

The union also faced a legal challenge to the ballot held prior to the teachers' action. In error, two teachers did not receive a ballot paper. This meant that not everyone who should have been balloted had been.

The court ruled in the union's favour, basing its decision on changes to ballot rules introduced under the Employment Relations Act 1999. It held that an accidental failure to comply, on a scale that would not affect the result of the ballot, had to be disregarded. The two votes would not have altered the outcome of the ballot.