Teacher strike dates: More pain for parents as NEU announces two days of walkouts this term with school closures likely
STRIKE chaos is set to hit again as teachers have planned walkouts across two days next month over pay disputes.
The National Education Union announced the industrial action will take place on July 5 and 7.
While the NEU has deemed the walkouts a “last resort”, the Department for Education has said they could cause “real damage”.
And thousands of parents will be forced to take the day off work as industrial action leaves kids at home.
This comes as the sixth national strike which has wreaked havoc in the past five months, organised by NEU members.
In May, walkouts saw less than half of schools functioning and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has said strike action was “extremely disappointing”.
Mum-of-three Virginia Nnomo, runs her own business and said further strikes will cost her money.
“The cost of a babysitter is a lot of money and she charges me per child, so when I weigh it up, maybe it is better to stay home – but I will lose money, that’s for sure,” Virginia told the BBC.
But, NEU members are calling for a higher pay rise which matches the rate of inflation – after being given a 5 per cent raise from 2022 to 2023.
During talks so far, most teachers have been offered a 4.3 per cent pay rise for next year.
Their starting salary has also seen offers of up to £30,000.
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, claimed Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had the power to stop the strike action.
They said: “Time and again the National Education Union, alongside its sister unions, have called for the Education Secretary to get around the negotiation table to settle this dispute for a fully-funded teacher pay increase.
“Time and again our calls have fallen on stony ground.
“No one wants to take strike action but when faced with an Education Secretary who clearly has no interest in settling this dispute, teachers are left with no option.”
But, the Department for Education have stated current negotiations on the table are a “fair and reasonable offer”.
It also stated schools would receive an extra £2.3billion over the next two years.
Teachers are demanding the funding comes from the government and not from school resources.
This comes as other teaching unions, the NAHT, the NASUWT, and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), are in talks of autumn term walk-outs later this year.
A Department for Education spokesman said the strike would cause disruption for parents across the country.
“Thousands of schools are receiving significant additional funding as part of the extra £2billion of investment we are providing for both 2023/24 and 2024/25, which will take school funding to its highest level in history next year, as measured by the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank).”