Day of strikes expected across industry sectors

What are the alternatives to court when it comes to divorce?

Going through a divorce is incredibly difficult and many people are naturally concerned about the emotional and financial toll, as well as the length of time it can take. While sometimes it is necessary to involve the family courts, it is often not in anyone’s best interest to do so, and to instead consider an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) option.

These include:

Mediation

Mediation is a process that gives a couple the opportunity to discuss issues arising from their separation with the help of a mediator. Family mediators are trained to act impartially and do not seek to apportion blame, but instead help you both to reach an agreement. The mediator assists you by explaining the law and the boundaries of it, and can give an indication of how – in his or her experience –the court might deal with an issue.

One Couple One Lawyer

‘One Couple One Lawyer’ is a relatively new approach, where couples appoint one lawyer between them to handle all aspects of their divorce, including child and financial arrangements. This can help keep the process as amicable as possible, as well as make it faster and more cost effective.

Collaborative Law

Alternatively, if a couple would prefer to each have legal representation then they might consider Collaborative Law. Using this approach, discussions take place sitting round the table with each party having their own collaborative lawyer at the meetings. The lawyers work together to try and help you come up with a solution.

Arbitration

This is where a specially trained arbitrator is appointed to hear evidence / representations from both sides and will then arbitrate the decision. This approach does involve an additional cost, but it may not in fact cost any more money than a court hearing. It is also a much quicker process than going to court.

There is no one size fits all approach. Every couple and every situation is different and it is really important to get the right advice and support in place so that you can choose the approach which best suits your specific needs.

If you have any questions at all, please get in touch with our friendly and experienced team, who will be happy to help info@ts-p.co.uk

THE country wakes up to what is expected to be the biggest day of industrial action for over a decade, with multiple public-sector strikes, across many sectors, with the impact still unclear even as the Times went to press last night (January 31).

Tens of thousands more teachers have joined the UK’s largest education union to take part in strikes on Wednesday, a union boss has said.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said ministers should be concerned about the 40,000 new sign-ups to the union since the teacher strikes were announced a fortnight ago.

He said the new members, of which the vast majority are teachers, are joining the union ‘because they want to be part of the action’.

Mr Courtney said: “That’s a very big conscious decision to make, to join us at this moment. If I was the Government, I’d be worried about that.”

Meanwhile, university staff, train drivers, civil servants, bus drivers and security guards will also go on strike.

Downing Street has conceded that Wednesday’s mass strike action will be ‘very difficult’ for the public.

Walkouts by teacher members of the NEU in England and Wales, which threaten disruption to 23,000 schools, are the first of seven days of strikes by the union in February and March amid a pay dispute.

Some parents will be forced to work from home and take leave to look after younger children on Wednesday.

‘Knock-on’

Jonathan Broadbery, director of policy at the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), has warned that the strike could have ‘quite a serious knock-on effect’ for nurseries as staff may struggle to find childcare.

But Mr Courtney said parents have been largely supportive of the strikes – with some expected to join demonstrations on Wednesday – as they can see ‘schools have been run down’ and have teacher shortages.

He said: “It’s a strike against disruption in education. We want the strike to be effective because we want to concentrate the Government’s mind on solving the issue.”

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan met the general secretaries of unions representing teachers and headteachers on Monday (January 30), but the talks failed to find a resolution.

Some 300,000 teachers and support staff were asked to vote in the NEU ballot – and more than 127,000 teacher members in England and Wales backed strike action.

In addition, new sign-ups to the NEU have nearly doubled in a week, from 22,000 on Tuesday last week to 40,000.

Mr Courtney said: “I think it will be very likely that all the yes voters and all the new joiners will take action, but that more will take action. Some of the no voters and some of the non-voters will take action as well.”

The NASUWT teachers’ union failed to achieve the 50% ballot turnout required by law for its members to go out on strike over pay in England, but it is advising members not to cover the work of NEU members who are striking.

In a message to parents on Wednesday (January 25), Mr Courtney said: “The strike will disrupt their child’s education and we regret that, and it will disrupt their home life and their work life and we regret that.

Prioritising

“We sincerely regret it, but we’re pointing to disruption that is happening every day in schools. If we don’t persuade Government to invest in education that disruption just carries on.”

The NEU is required by law to provide schools with the number of members that it is calling on to take strike action in each workplace, but the union does not have to provide the names of members.

Headteachers and academy trust bosses are unlikely to know about any extra staff who have joined the NEU in order to strike since the results were announced just over two weeks ago.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “School leaders will not necessarily know who is going to be available for work until the day itself.”

He said heads “are prioritising in their planning students who are taking vocational exams scheduled that day and mock exams in preparation for GCSEs and A-levels, as well as vulnerable students, while for other students there is likely to be a mixture of on-site provision and learning from home”. Southeastern Railway confirmed there would be no trains today and Friday (February 1 and 3) due to industrial action by members of Aslef and RMT unions.

Thousands of ambulance workers across five services in England will strike on February 10 in the long-running dispute over pay and staffing, Unison announced on Tuesday. Strikes will now be happening across the NHS every day next week apart from Wednesday.

NHS consultants in England are also gearing up for possible strike action.

The British Medical Association (BMA) – the country’s biggest doctors’ union – is to hold an indicative ballot of its consultant members in February in a dispute over pay and pensions.

The move comes after members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted overwhelmingly in favour of walk-outs in a ballot result announced on Monday.

See our coverage of industrial action in Tunbridge Wells on page 3.