School staff to strike in support of victimised union rep Tom Barker

UNISON members at Ash Field Academy, a SEND school in Evington, Leicester, have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action to demand the reinstatement of their elected representative, Tom Barker.

In a formal industrial action ballot which closed on 18 March, 87% of voting members supported strike action. This is due to the suspension of Barker, their workplace steward, who has been suspended since October 2025, and the attack this represents on their trade union rights. The turnout easily cleared the legal 50% participation threshold.

For more than four months, UNISON’s Leicester City branch has been campaigning for Barker’s reinstatement. Discovery Schools Academy Trust (DSAT), the multi-academy trust which runs the school, claims it’s still investigating his case. Although DSAT has changed the allegations it claims to be investigating since the initial suspension.

More than 400 trade unionists, including UNISON’s new general secretary Andrea Egan and MP Zarah Sultana, have signed an open letter demanding Barker’s reinstatement.

Background to Barker’s suspension

During the 2024/25 academic year, UNISON, which represents the vast majority of Ash Field’s support staff, repeatedly raised concerns relating to health and safety. This situation worsened when DSAT, despite UNISON’s strenuous objections, cut several further staff via a hugely rushed redundancy process. UNISON members voted for strike action over the staffing situation, with that ballot closing on 20 October 2025.

On 30 October, DSAT leaders suspended Barker from his duties, citing allegations against him. Originally they said that the suspension was due to an incident that allegedly took place on 29 October. However, Barker obtained emails via a Subject Access Request. And these showed that, as far back as December, the independent investigating officer had reported that there was no case to answer and recommended lifting the suspension. But DSAT failed to act on this.

Many UNISON members at Ash Field signed a statement describing his suspension as “a bad-faith attack on…. UNISON members” and a “reprisal for [members] voting for industrial action”.

On 12 January 2026, DSAT leaders asserted that Barker’s suspension was to protect the integrity of an investigation into a grievance. This investigation concluded in February, yet DSAT didn’t reinstate Barker.

The external investigators into the two previous allegations found no case to answer. But the trust has since appointed a new investigator from a separate organisation to investigate again. And Barker, after 4 months out of work, has been resuspended.

UNISON Leicester City continues to call for Barker’s reinstatement, and for DSAT to cease this union-busting activity. Sam Randfield, UNISON Leicester City’s branch secretary, stated at a public meeting in February:

It was clear at the time of the suspension, and it is even clearer today, that this was an act of bad faith towards UNISON and Tom himself. The case against Tom is practically non-existent. There is no reason to keep him suspended for this long.

What has happened to Tom is appalling, and is as clear a case of trade union victimisation as I have ever seen. In voting for strike action so overwhelmingly, our members have made a clear statement that they will not tolerate union-busting in their workplace.

There is a quick and easy way for DSAT to end this dispute and avoid strike action. They simply need to lift Tom’s suspension and reinstate him to duty. That is the one and only demand our members are making.

Featured image via the Canary