Most schools in England affected by strikeson February 1, 2023 at 6:18 pm

Thousands of workers, including teachers in England and Wales, went on strike on Wednesday – the biggest single-day of strikes for a decade.

As many as 23,000 schools are thought to have been affected, the National Education Union (NEU) said, although the extent of disruption has varied.

Up to half a million workers are involved, including university staff, civil servants, train and bus drivers.

Most are striking in a dispute over pay not keeping pace with inflation.

According to the NEU, 85% of schools were being impacted in some way.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) union said out of 948 head teachers and principles in England and Wales – mostly in secondary schools – 97% reported teachers in the school were on strike. In about a third of schools, more than half of teachers were on strike, it said.

In Wales, striking teachers are joined by support staff, while members of the National Association of Head Teachers are taking action short of a strike.

Teachers are also striking in two parts of Scotland – Clackmannanshire and Aberdeen – as part of rolling industrial action.

Primary school teacher Justine Valentine took part in a rally in Leamington Spa, along with a group of her colleagues.

“I’ve never been on strike before. I’ve been moved today, I felt it was my only option,” she said.

She said she was striking over funding, with cuts to teaching assistant numbers because of tight budgets meaning more work for other staff.

“We’ve got really talented young teachers at our school. I worry that they are going to burn out or they are not going to be able to afford to stay in teaching,” she said.

“I’m really really sorry for the children in my class, I would rather be with them,” she added. “But it really is time to stand together to be counted.”

Ms Keegan defended the government’s record on school funding telling BBC Breakfast it “makes no sense to give inflation-busting pay rises to some of the workforce” at a time when prices are rising for everyone.

Most state school teachers in England and Wales had a 5% pay rise in 2022. Unions say this amounts to a pay cut because inflation is over 10%. In Scotland, teachers rejected a 5% increase.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, accused ministers of failing to negotiate meaningfully on pay and said teachers had been “forced to stand up”.

She acknowledged teachers struggling to make ends meet had been left facing a “catch 22” over whether or not to take part.

Some members were working second jobs and struggling to pay for petrol to get to work, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today.

A “toxic combination” of below inflation pay offers and high workloads was leading to a third of new teachers quitting within five years, she claimed.

Ms Keegan rejected that, saying she has held five meetings with union leaders for “wide-ranging discussions” in recent weeks.

Downing Street insisted the government wants further talks and said some had been “constructive”, but doubled down on the need for modest pay rises, describing inflation as “one of the biggest risks to people’s pay packets”.

Maria Richardson, head teacher of Our Lady Queen of Peace primary school in Liverpool, sent three classes home because there were not enough staff to teach them.

“We’ll ensure that the children do catch up,” she said. “Those children will be given extra tuition.”

But she added: “This is what we’re fighting for. We want extra staff within the schools. We’re possibly looking at deficit budgets next year – that could result in losing many extra staff.”

The strike has had an impact beyond schools.

Claire Johnson runs an after school club in Birmingham for children from two local primary schools, which both closed on Wednesday.

The closures left parents either asking for the club to run for the whole day – which was not possible because the church hall was booked for other activities – or requesting for refunds because they would be staying at home with their children.

“Unfortunately we’ve already paid for our rent up front. We’ve got staff costs,” she said.

“We’ve had to say we’re open. So if you choose to bring your children to us, then you can, but if you don’t, that’s your choice.”

On a normal Wednesday, between 22 and 26 children attend the club – but Ms Johnson said she thought there would be five or six this week.

Among them were James and Emily, whose father, Tim Easun, brought them in because they like the social side of the club.

Mr Easun was able to look after them while his partner worked from home because he himself was taking part in university staff strikes.

“I think the decision to close the school was the right one to make because that way, the teachers don’t get singled out,” he said.

A secondary-school teacher in Cambridgeshire, who asked not to be named, said she understood why her colleagues were striking but she could not afford to lose the pay.

“Morally, it just doesn’t sit right with me,” she added.

“The kids have suffered so much through Covid and I just feel like striking and them missing another four days of school is not going to help anybody. They’re already so far behind.”

Wednesday is the first of seven national and regional NEU strike dates.

Schools in England will each see four days of strike action, three national days and one affecting their region.

Teachers have already been on a national strike in Scotland and action is continuing on a rolling basis. Most teachers in Northern Ireland will walk out for half a day on 21 February.

Teachers are joining workers represented by seven different unions across the UK will strike on Wednesday.

They include:

Earlier, the Unison union announced its members in five ambulance services in England will strike on Friday of next week, as part of a dispute about pay and conditions.

The walkout will affect London, Yorkshire, the South West, North East and North West.

Unison also says its members at the Environment Agency will join members of the Prospect union in striking for 12 hours next Wednesday. The action will include workers in flood forecasting and pollution control.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of “weak leadership” and urged him to come to the negotiating table to sort out the “chaos”.

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