“Furious” staff at a school in Woolwich are set to walk out over an “ill-thought out and unnecessary” restructure that will cut 14 jobs.

The strike at Mulgrave School, based in Rectory Place, will take place tomorrow (Wednesday, September 11).

Teaching assistants and other workers at the school who are represented by Unite, GMB and Unison are going on strike in response to plans which the unions claim come from Greenwich Council.

Greenwich Council denies these claims.

According to Unite, these plans involve scrapping flexible working arrangements, creating additional unpaid duties and cutting the pay of remaining workers.

General Secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, said: “These staff are the backbone of Mulgrave School, without whom it simply cannot function.

“Yet Greenwich Council is seeing fit to embark on an ill-thought through restructuring that would ruin the lives.

“Mulgrave’s management and the council should be ashamed of such behaviour.

“Our members won’t stand for such behaviour and they have the complete support of their union.”

Unite has said that staff will be on the picket line tomorrow to make their voices heard.

The organisation believes that both the school and the council have “repeatedly failed to disclose the accounts to justify any restructuring”.

Unite claims that Greenwich Council has called on help from Hackney Council to support the restructure due to “a lack of resource and expertise within Greenwich Council”.

GMB Senior Organiser, Stuart Fegan, said: “It’s quite frankly shameful that the headteacher and senior management team at Mulgrave Primary School have not made any proposals to resolve our members’ concerns, despite meeting with us last week for that very purpose.

“Our members are their staff and are simply seeking assurances that will protect the standards of education they seek to provide their students.

GMB would like to thank the students and parents at Mulgrave Primary School for their understanding throughout this dispute, as we know they also support our members’ struggle against this ill-thought out and unnecessary restructure.

UNISON London Regional Organiser, Dick Traynor, said: “Staff at the school are dedicated to their jobs, despite low wages and increasing workloads.

“Parents and the wider community rely on them to ensure pupils get the best education possible.

“But school workers are the ones being forced to pay the price.

“Those that won’t lose their jobs face a pay cut and will be on worse contracts.

“School managers have ordered savage cuts without coming clean about why they’re needed or what other options there are.

“Workers have been left with little choice but to strike over these unacceptable plans.”

Greenwich Council has told the News Shopper that this is not a matter for them to comment on as it is a dispute between the school and its workers.

The News Shopper has contacted Mulgrave School for a comment.