Teachers at two schools will strike over the suspension of a union representative.

NUT members at Fortismere and Highgate Wood Schools voted in favour of the walkout yesterday, with the first day of action planned for November 5.

The union says the dispute is over secondary headteachers failing to sign an agreement with the council that would provide teachers with access to union representation.

Helen Anthony, headteacher at Fortismere, and Patrick Cozier, headteacher at Highgate Wood, both signed a letter on behalf of secondary headteachers in the borough calling for the removal of Julie Davies as Haringey NUT secretary.

Ms Davies has since been suspended for gross misconduct by Haringey Council, and this week lost a court case challenging the council’s power to suspend her.

Deputy NUT secretary, Niall O’Connor, said the union was so far only set to strike for one day at Fortismere as governors there had offered to speak with union representatives.

The union says it has received no contact from Highgate Wood. Mr O’Connor said: “This is disappointing. We’ve been calling for meaningful talks since July.

“NUT members have clearly and unequivocally said that they will not be dictated to either by the headteachers or the local authority. Surely now is the time to resolve these issues”.

London NUT regional secretary Bob Stapley said: “We have never seen such arrogant behaviour from headteachers. They are trying to choose who our elected reps are.

“Our members are never going to accept this and the union will fight it every step of the way.”

The headteachers at the two schools made identical statements when approached by the Tottenham Independent this morning.

They said: “We very much value and welcome the important role that unions play in supporting our teachers and we know that all of our staff share the same commitment to giving our students the best possible education.

“We are working with the local authority to agree a service level agreement that will allow all of our staff to continue to have effective trade union representation.”

Earlier this week, a spokesman for Haringey Council said: “Haringey Council has a proud history of supporting the essential role played by unions and we remain committed to ensuring that all schools have access to appropriate union representation.”