Schools could close next week when ‘more than 100,000 teachers’ strike
‘Lots of schools’ in England and Wales may temporarily close next week, as more than 100,000 teachers stage industrial action.
Around 127,000 teachers and 16,000 support staff workers – who are part of the National Education Union (NEU) – voted in favour of strikes.
The walk-outs will begin on February 1.
High numbers of staff joining the strike action mean ‘lots of schools will close’, the union’s general secretary Mary Bousted said.
She said this would be the case particularly ‘in areas where the NEU is the biggest union and has a really strong density, like London’.
The NEU predicts that the upcoming strikes, in February and March, will affect 23,400 schools in total.
Ms Bousted has been encouraged by the recent surge in membership, saying: ‘I think the action will be stronger because we’ve got a bigger membership. People join so they can take part in the action.
‘It’s because there’s a deep and prolonged anger about the circumstances in which they’re working.’
She added that she believes ‘many more’ than 100,000 will be joining the walkouts next week.
Guidance from the Department for Education suggests agency staff and volunteers could be used to cover classes on strike days.
Head teachers are expected ‘to take all reasonable steps to keep the school open for as many pupils as possible’.
The NEU is required by law to provide schools with the number of members in a workplace ahead of planned strike action, but the union does not have to provide the names of individual members to employers.
Ms Bousted said schools will have to make the call whether to stay open or not based on how many NEU members work for them.
Although there are seven days of industrial action planned for next week, the union said any individual school will only be impacted for four days.
Out of 300,000 teachers and support staff NEU members balloted on strikes, 143,000 backed the walkouts.
Conversely, the NAHT school leaders’ union and the NASUWT teachers’ union both failed to achieve the 50% ballot turnout required by law for its members to go out on strike over pay in England.
Both unions are considering balloting members again over pay.
Schools across Scotland were closed over the last two weeks, when members of unions including the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the world’s oldest teacher’s trade union, took action.
General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Geoff Barton said: ‘School leaders are currently in the process of working out what provision they will be able to provide during periods of industrial action.
‘The decision around whether to keep a site open will be taken following a risk assessment considering the safety of staff and students, and taking into account the number of staff they expect to have available who are not involved in industrial action.
‘We call upon the Government to avert strike action by committing to an improvement in pay and addressing the teacher recruitment and retention crisis. There is still time to resolve this dispute.’
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