Teachers 'justified' over national strike action » Education » 24dash.com

Teachers manned picket lines outside school gates across England and Wales today in a show of support for the 24-hour strike.

At least a third of schools have been affected by the action, with some regions reporting seven in every 10 establishments being closed or partially shut.

But despite the disruption to students - and parents forced to take the day off to care for them - strikers were adamant that their cause was just.

Outside City Academy School in Bristol, teachers insisted they "felt no guilt" after telling hundreds of parents that their children would have to stay at home.

A handful of non-unionised members breached the picket line but the majority of teaching staff at the academy stayed at home.

Keith George, 45, a science teacher and NUT representative, said: "We have already turned several teachers away. It has been very satisfying that our message appears to be getting through.

"If parents want the best teaching for their children then this strike is essential."

Paulette North, the assistant divisional secretary for the NUT, joined Mr George at the entrance.

She added: "We do not feel guilty at all. In fact we feel that if we do not have these strikes then we will lose even more teachers than we are already."

It was a similar scene outside Hamstead Hall School in Birmingham.

English teacher and NUT representative David Room, who has worked in education for 10 years, said: "It's important to show the strength of feeling on this issue.

"We want to show the parents that the strike is something that we've been forced into taking.

"We've had three years of pay cuts, the Government wants to give us three more years of pay cuts - it's time to say, 'Enough is enough'."

Recently-qualified Nisha Vatish, who is in her first year of teaching languages, said: "I totally understand the reasons behind the strike, especially for young teachers.

"I have got a lot of friends who left the profession because they couldn't afford to stay in it." Across the country, teachers expressed their belief that the strike was supported by parents and the public at large.

Outside Cardinal Heenan Catholic High in Liverpool - where the NUT said just seven out a total 194 schools were fully open - History teacher Jayne Boden said strikers had received a high level of support.

She said: "I think parents realise that the Government hasn't kept its promise to review pay scales and we have been forced into this situation."

Around 300 teachers staged a protest march through Liverpool city centre during the morning, chanting "Gordon Brown you've let us down".

At Lawnswood School, in Headingley, Leeds, teachers at the entrance received support from passing commuters.

Cars sounded their horns in support of the striking NUT members, who huddled under under umbrellas in the heavy rain.

A couple of the teachers held an official Leeds NUT banner, while others waved placards, with slogans including, '2.45% = pay cut', 'Where's the money Darling?' and 'Hoot to support'.

Schools across the south west of England joined forces in Bristol for a march through the city centre.

Kicking off in Castle Park, hundreds of protesters brought traffic to a standstill as they made their way along Union Street through the city's busy shopping district and up to College Green.

Cars tooted their horns in support and frustration as representatives from schools across Bristol, Bath, Somerset, Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire marched with banners in their hands.

About 100 teachers gathered today on the Cornhill, in Ipswich, Suffolk, before marching through the town centre.

English teacher Margaret Bulaitis, the Ipswich NUT secretary, said:
"Suffolk has been one of the most affected areas in terms of schools closed and we're pleased with the response.

"There are teachers here from all sorts of schools. Some are living on the bread line and it's important to highlight that."

At least 2,000 schools closed their doors to students today with a similar number reporting being partially shut.

Around 500 teachers held a rally and march in support of the strike in Manchester, where around 70% of schools are either closed or partially closed.

Protesters held placards aimed at Gordon Brown, saying, 'He's not Robin Hood, He's robbing you!' and chanted for fair pay for teachers as they marched through the city's streets.

Earlier striking teachers cheered speeches from NUT leaders at the rally at the Friends Meeting House in the city centre.

Helen Andrews, executive member of the NUT, told those gathered in the hall that they were part of "history in the making".

And she called on members of the Government to show they understood teachers' concerns.

She said: "Mr Brown, Mr Balls, where is your sense of fairness? Where is your sense of responsibility and morality?

"Are you going to continue to penny-pinch on teachers' pay? Where is the morality in dragging young teachers into poverty?

"Our patience is running out, the campaign is under way and we will not stop until we have won."

Sue Bond, from the Public and Civil Servants' Union (PCS), echoed the previous speaker's concerns.

Speaking about the Government, she said: "They clearly do not have their priorities right because if you value public services then you have to value the staff that deliver them."

Nick Wigmore, a founder member of the NUT young teachers section, said teachers did more unpaid overtime than workers in any other profession.

He said: "Every year we are worth less and less to the Government.

"At the same time our workload increases. At the same time behavioural problems increase. At the same time cases of stress and overwork increase.

"The only thing which is decreasing is our work-life balance."

And he too called on Downing Street to pay attention.

He said: "Let's hope the Government is listening today. They do not have a very good record on listening and if they were a pupil in a school they would surely be chastised for that."

Daniel Heap, 27, from Altrincham, Cheshire, a teacher for six years at Plymouth Grove Primary School in Longsight, Manchester, said the protest was not just about pay - good people will not take up the job if pay is not increased.

"It is an issue of recruitment. We need quality people to go through university and do the teaching course to get the best people into teaching.

"We need strong teachers, the only way to attract the best people is to ensure we are competitively paid compared to other public sector jobs.

"Children are missing out for one day, and maybe subsequent single days, but in the long run, I would rather have my children taught by highly qualified teachers."

Hannah Jeffares, 23, a newly qualified teacher at Knowsley Junior School in Oldham, said, "We work 70 hours a week and are dedicated to our jobs but feel we are not being rewarded for the effort we are putting in.

"I got paid more as a student working in office jobs than I do now, yet I'm being given the responsibility of teaching 30 children in the key skills in life."

Debs Gwynn, 36, a special needs teacher at Hope High School in Salford, and President of the NUT Salford Branch, said, "Fifty per cent of teachers leave the profession in the first three years.

"If you compare our profession to other professions where you need a degree, our pay falls way, way behind."

Melanie Crossman, 34, head of IT at Our Lady's RC Sports College in Blackley, Manchester, said, "I don't want to be out on strike, I just want to be able to live. My standard of living is dropping and dropping.

"Parents would be a lot more concerned if they have not got qualified teachers in schools to teach their children, than they will be about a one day strike.

"We are only asking the government to be fair to us."

More than 300 striking teachers marched through Cambridge after holding a rally in the centre of the town.

More than a thousand people gathered for a rally in Birmingham's Victoria Square today, as the band played a song from the 1984 miners'
strike, "I'd rather be a picket than a scab".

The NUT numbers were swelled by other unions, as the city - where almost a third of schools were closed or partially closed today - has also been hit by a two-day strike over council pay.

Tony Souter, joint divisional secretary of the Warwickshire NUT, said that since the Government had done a "U-turn" over the 10p tax rate, it should do the same over public sector pay.

"They seem to listen to bankers," he said. "If they can bail them out, why can't they pay a bit more for education?

"They have got money for Afghanistan and the war, Northern Rock and the banks - but if they don't pay teachers a decent wage, they are going to have a poor education system."

Joanna Davies-Njie, a teacher for 25 years, said she had taken part in the last strike action 21 years ago.

"It's good to feel there is still a bite among people and they do want to change things," she said.

"I have always been a Labour supporter, but it makes you think, 'Where are things going'?"

There had been speculation that former Prime Minister Tony Blair's son Nicky would be at the rally, but he was not spotted among the crowd.

Nicky Blair, 22, is working in the Midlands as a teacher under the Teach First scheme, which aims to place talented graduates in inner-city schools.

Meanwhile one enterprising employment agency handed out leaflets advertising their services, hoping to lure the marching teachers over to more lucrative agency work.

Hundreds of teachers joined a noisy demonstration in Newcastle.

Busloads of strikers waving placards and wearing stickers arrived from Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham, and Tyne and Wear at Grey's Monument in the city centre.

The rally was coordinated by the regional NUT, UCU and PCU.

Regional secretary for the NUT Elaine Kay said the NUT had called on teachers to join the rally instead of manning picket lines.

She said: "The Government has underestimated the strength of feeling amongst teachers today.

"It is time teachers and public sector workers were paid properly and that the work they do is properly recognised.

"For three years we have had below inflation pay deals and have been offered the same for the next three.

"It amounts to a wage cut. It is insulting.

"The Government is not going to be able to replace the teachers we will lose because they will have moved to the private sector.

"If they want to retain a highly skilled, highly trained profession then they are going to have to pay them appropriately or they are going to leave."

President-elect for the University and College union Sasha Callaghan defended the strike.

She said: "It is close to the exams, but it was not deliberately planned to disrupt the students and the strike has our full support.

"The NUT absolutely support the action we are taking and understands why we are going on strike today.

"The fact is our workers are underpaid. Our workers in further education and the prison service are 6% less well paid than teachers and we are saying enough is enough."

Lucy Beckford, 25, a primary school teacher at Consett Junior School in County Durham, said she could not afford to live on her wage.

"I have been a teacher for three years and on the salary I earn, I cannot afford to live.

"I bought a house last year - a small one - and after I've paid my mortgage and the bills I have just a couple of hundred pounds a month to pay for petrol and food.

"I trained to be a teacher because I love the job and believe everybody has the right to equal opportunities and the right to a decent, free, education.

"That is why I do not want to move to the private sector, even though I would be paid a lot more money.

"But unless the pay goes up I will have no choice."

Former headteacher Dawn Whittaker, 56, now works as a supply teacher in Darlington.

She said: "I have 35 years experience in the job and it is becoming more and more of a struggle to make ends meet.

"The job is more difficult than it was because of the way education policies have changed.

"We are professionals and should be treated as such.

"We have a clear message for the Government: fair pay for teachers, fair pay for public sector workers and fair pay for all."

In Northamptonshire, the NUT insisted its strike today had been met with a sympathetic response.

Gordon White, county secretary for the union, said more than 200 teachers had turned out for a rally at the Guildhall in Northampton.

Of the county's 326 schools, 36 told the council they were officially closed and 54 were partially closed.

Mr White said: "It was brilliant. We estimate that over 50% of the people there were young teachers coming to this and taking action, giving vibrance (sic) to it.

"It was a good turnout considering the overall vote for the strike action.

"There have been some local polls which suggested that 60% of people are in favour. Whether they are parents or not, I'm not sure.

"I was on the picket line this morning and people were going past and hooting - I think there's a lot of sympathy for it."