Industry News
Thousands of schools now affected by strike
Posted on 22nd April 2008
The number of schools now affected by the planned strike on Thursday (April 24) stands at 2,175, the BBC has reported.
Yesterday (April 21st), the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the union behind the strike, asked members to join its teachers' campaigning union in support of the industrial action being taken in a row over pay.
This will be the first NUT-organised strike in 21 years and was originally implemented by general secretary Steve Sinnott, who died at the beginning of April.
Teachers are protesting after three years of pay awards that came below the level of inflation. The union say this is having an adverse effect on the number of teachers joining the profession and staying on.
However, the government has yet to take active response against the strike threat.
On a visit to a London children's centre, schools secretary Ed Balls said: "I'm on the side of the parents who will be disappointed if their children's education is disrupted on Thursday."
Yesterday, chairman of the National Employers' Organisation for School Teachers Ivan Ould criticised the timing of the strike, telling the BBC it could be damaging to children who are preparing for upcoming exams.